Varane offered to Real Madrid's arch-rivals on cut-price deal

Barcelona has allegedly been given the opportunity by Manchester United to purchase a World Cup winner for a reduced fee during the January transfer window.

Allegedly, Manchester United have opted not to exercise their 12-month contract extension option for Raphael Varane. Because of this, the defender would be free to negotiate a summer move with any team he wants, even abroad.

For the veteran, the journey from Real Madrid to Manchester United has been everything but smooth sailing. Since he moved to Old Trafford, the team’s performance in all competitions has been dismal. Only the previous season provided any relief from their horrible Premier League showings.

Neither has the personal front has been sunshine and rainbows; this season, Harry Maguire replaced Varane in the starting lineup. Although the 30-year-old has made 16 appearances this season, he has primarily started when Maguire didn’t. Consequently, his future in England is unclear, which is not shocking.

Return to Real Madrid out of question

It is also mentioned that the lack of consistency at United this year left the 2018 World Cup champion with France dissatisfied.

Varane, who will be 31 years old when his contract expires after the 2023-24 season, has struggled to get playing time this year at Old Trafford. Thus, he seems set to depart the Premier League.

His freedom to discuss summer transfer with European teams began in January. In fact, media previously considered his most likely option to be returning to Real Madrid.

After all, the defender is supposedly willing to take a pay cut in order to return to the Bernabeu, having spent a decade with Madrid before. While David Alaba and Eder Militao are sidelined with injuries, Carlo Ancelotti would benefit greatly from the move.

Unfortunately, returning to the Whites this month is out of the question. That’s because the Madrid boss said they would not be adding a defender to their roster.

Return to La Liga still possible though?

United put center-back Victor Lindelof’s contract extension into motion, allowing him to play for another year. Still, his market worth is more than Varane’s, considering the Frenchman’s age.

Various reports have suggested that Varane would want to remain at Old Trafford rather than depart this month. Therefore, he was hoping the club would exercise the one-year option on his contract.

Thus, Saudi Arabian sides and Bayern Munich have been actively pursuing him. But now the latest reports indicate that Barcelona will have the opportunity to acquire Varane this winter.

TEAMtalk have suggested that United’s new minority stakeholder, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, would want to see the player transferred this month. That’s why they have apparently contacted Barcelona and offered him for a reduced price of $22 million.

This is due to Ratcliffe’s desire to take his salary—approximately $432,000 per week—out of the club. But, for a number of reasons, such a proposal sounds completely outlandish and absurd.

To begin, Varane’s past with Real Madrid makes a Barcelona transfer quite unlikely. Also, Xavi’s side will unlikely make a center-back investment this month. Despite Ronald Araujo’s future being unknown due to rumors linking him to Bayern.

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