Manchester United boss Louis Van Gaal has demanded the club sign Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane in the summer as he looks to put the Red Devils back in contention for the title and the Champions League, according to reports.
The Dutch boss has earmarked the centre back as the man he wants to shore up a defence that has look short on confidence and experience at times this season having lost trio Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic and Patrice Evra last summer.
And the Daily Express claims Van Gaal, who lead Holland to the semi-finals of the World Cup last year, has told United directors they should set aside around 38 million euros to land the France international.
Varane has featured in 16 league games for Los Blancos this season – the most in any season so far as a Real player. But reports have always persisted that he wants away from the club as he’s failed to dislodge Sergio Ramos and Pepe from the first team.
The player himself denies that, saying he was misquoted in a recent interview: “That is a lie, I always say the same thing. Competition is important for the team to improve. I like the competition and anything else is lies. It is from a translation that was not good.”
Should Madrid receive an offer in the region of 35-40 million euros, it could be a tempting one.
It will a huge mistake to sell one off the team best defenders as we all know that Los Blancos have a big defensive problem .