Raphael Varane to Manchester United

[Danny]

The express linking Varane with a move to Old Trafford as Real Madrid look to sign Umtiti from Barcelona...seems simple enough

https://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/963856/Manchester-United-transfer-news-Jose-Mourinho-Real-Madrid-Barcelona-Raphael-Varane?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-express-football-news+(Daily+Express+%3A%3A+Football+Feed)

[Stan]

Real are not signing Umtiti 

[SirBalon]

I can't see Samuel Umtiti doing something like that although the way things are in football these days it wouldn't be the biggest shock in history. The issue is that if something like that were to happen then the board at Barcelona could consider themselves finished.

Raphael Varane although a very technical defender, he hasn't grown into the centre back everyone thought he would be. He is very error prone and has a dodgy knee which he's never really gotten over with. He needs resting periods after playing more than three games in a row and when you're playing for a club like Real Madrid where you are playing midweek-weekend almost all the way through the season (until you get knocked out by a third division side in the Copa del Rey ), then your position becomes almost unattainable. 

Umtiti is currently negotiating his contract renewal at Barça where he's into his third year of the original five he signed when he arrived.  Umtiti's buy-out clause was originally set at €60m which is pittance right now especially seeing what he's turned into which is one of the best centre backs in the world.  So, if Barça dilly dally on his renewal, I could see him say "piss off then" and go somewhere else, the club choice would be his because he would get into any first team anywhere in the world.

As for Varane at United... Sounds like the sort of experimental signing Man Utd would make because recent history dictates that this is the their transfer policy these days.  Sign a high profile name and see what happens because the money is there but the brains for reasoning don't reside at the club.

[Danny]

20 minutes ago, SirBalon said:

I can't see Samuel Umtiti doing something like that although the way things are in football these days it wouldn't be the biggest shock in history. The issue is that if something like that were to happen then the board at Barcelona could consider themselves finished.

Raphael Varane although a very technical defender, he hasn't grown into the centre back everyone thought he would be. He is very error prone and has a dodgy knee which he's never really gotten over with. He needs resting periods after playing more than three games in a row and when you're playing for a club like Real Madrid where you are playing midweek-weekend almost all the way through the season (until you get knocked out by a third division side in the Copa del Rey ), then your position becomes almost unattainable. 

Umtiti is currently negotiating his contract renewal at Barça where he's into his third year of the original five he signed when he arrived.  Umtiti's buy-out clause was originally set at €60m which is pittance right now especially seeing what he's turned into which is one of the best centre backs in the world.  So, if Barça dilly dally on his renewal, I could see him say "piss off then" and go somewhere else, the club choice would be his because he would get into any first team anywhere in the world.

As for Varane at United... Sounds like the sort of experimental signing Man Utd would make because recent history dictates that this is the their transfer policy these days.  Sign a high profile name and see what happens because the money is there but the brains for reasoning don't reside at the club.

@Stan I thought the same but stranger things have happened.

@SirBalon I think it's a perfect Mourinho signing, someone he's trusted in the past, physical presence, good defender....you'd assume an upgrade on Smalling and Jones  Makes you wonder what's happening with Lindelof

[SirBalon]

14 minutes ago, Danny said:

@Stan I thought the same but stranger things have happened.

@SirBalon I think it's a perfect Mourinho signing, someone he's trusted in the past, physical presence, good defender....you'd assume an upgrade on Smalling and Jones  Makes you wonder what's happening with Lindelof

For me the perfect Mourinho centre back is actually the other one involved in this debate which is Samuel Umtiti mate. Everything about Umtiti as a defender smells of everything Mourinho has ever wanted in a player that plies his trade in that area. As for Varane... He is a very technical centre back and one of the fastest I've ever seen... But he does suffer from a lack of concentration on positioning and makes various errors in high profile games.

[Cicero]

Mourinho has been wanting Varane for years, ever since he left Real. 

Nothing story. 

[CaaC (John)+]

Manchester United's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward wanted to sign Paris St-Germain and Italy midfielder Marco Verratti, 27, and Real Madrid's 26-year-old France defender Raphael Varane before he stepped away from the club's recruitment strategy. (Manchester Evening News)

Another link - Marco Verratti

[Teso dos Bichos]

Veratti signed a new contract with PSG. He wont be leaving anytime soon.

[Cicero]

7 minutes ago, Teso dos Bichos said:

Veratti signed a new contract with PSG. He wont be leaving anytime soon.

Wasn’t he dying to leave at a point?