Manchester United’s Premier League realm is at stake due to the emergence of their ‘noisy neighbour’ Manchester City’s as Europe’s one of the most affluent forces since the MiddleEast takeover. The Red Devils have not held themselves back to spend big and match City’s opulence in the transfer market in order to reclaim their lost throne, however, they are still wide off their rivals who have taken giant leaps in past few years.
Manchester City are the frontrunners and clear favourites to conquer the Premier League title under Pep Guardiola this year. United might have retained the second spot of the tally but are yet to ensure a Champions League berth due to relentless pressure from the other ‘top four’ aspirers in form of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea. Jose Mourinho, the Red Devils boss, has been let down by his defensive line on a plenty of occasions and the presence of David De Gea between the sticks saved his side from further humiliation.
If reports are believed to be true, the Portuguese tactician is desperate to pursue some more high-profile moves and French centre-back Raphael Varane tops the list whom he handed his senior debut for Real Madrid while having his managerial stint with Los Blancos.
Varane, 24, has appeared more than 200 times so far for the defending La Liga and Champions League winners who are having a nightmarish domestic campaign and already gave up the title race to bitter rivals Barcelona. Florentino Pérez, the Real Madrid chairman, slammed his side following a shambolic defeat to Espanyol and is planning a mass exodus in summer to reconstruct the squad as reported by Spanish outlet Diario Gol. Varane too might be allowed to leave for a fee of above £50 mil and Manchester United, being his long-term admirers, might dive into the transfer market to acquire the star defender.
United brought in Victor Lindelof from Benfica back in summer but the Swedish centre-back has failed to create an impact so far and struggled to break into the first-team ahead of the likes of Chris Smalling, Phil Jones, Eric Bailly and Marcos Rojo. He has been handed only 8 league starts so far and might not be retained beyond this season if Mourinho succeeds to wrap up deals for his preferred options. The Red Devils must concentrate on defensive reinforcements due to the frequent injury concerns of Bailly, Rojo and Jones whereas Smalling, currently enjoying his 8th successive campaign for the Red Devils, has been largely inconsistent and erroneous of late.
Varane will bring in an experience of quite the highest order due to his incontrovertible success with Europe’s greatest of all-time, Real Madrid. He will be featuring for France in the upcoming FIFA World Cup Competition who are being considered as one of the strongest title contenders. He holds strong passing skills along with calm and composed defensive traits that help him to concentrate and watch the ball very closely until the very end. He seldom commits fouls and is a neat tackler who has impressive intercepting attributes as well. His presence will enlighten the Premier League football and certainly Manchester United who are in need of a defensive ascendancy.
