Chelsea have joined Manchester United in the hunt for Real Madrid centre back Raphael Varane.
The 27-year-old has not agreed to the terms of a new contract that los Blancos have put on the table and is reported to want to play in the Premier League.
With a year left on the Frenchman’s contract, Real cannot afford to let him leave for free next summer and are also keen to sell players to raise funds for their pursuit of Kylian Mbappe from PSG.
United looked to be in pole position to sign the World Cup winner but according to Bild (via AS), Chelsea have thrown their hat into the ring and are determined to beat the Red Devils to the punch.
‘Tuchel wants to reinforce Chelsea’s defence with Raphael Varane next summer… the Madrid man is the German coach’s priority in that area,’ AS reports.
‘The leaders of the London club [] are giving great importance to the coach’s requests in order to strengthen their squad for next season.
‘His value, according to Transfermarkt, is €70 million (£60.8m). And it is an amount close to that figure that Madrid will ask to let him go and thus be able to face the search for a replacement.’
With the Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof partnership looking shaky again yesterday despite United’s victory over Burnley, the Red Devils can ill-afford to miss out on the opportunity to buy a world-class centre back, especially if it means that player joins one of their biggest Premier League rivals.
Because of Varane’s contract situation, he could prove to be much better value for money than other targets such as Sevilla’s Jules Kound’e, whose asking price is reported to be considerably higher than that of the Madrid man.