Manchester United’s Raphaël Varane open to Saudi Pro League transfer

Manchester United’s Raphaël Varane is being targetted by Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad despite his starting place under Erik ten Hag.

The report comes fresh off the back of Manchester United‘s 2-0 loss against Tottenham Hotspur, where Raphaël Varane played 90 minutes and was arguably United’s best defender on the day.

The Saudi Pro League has been making unprecedented waves in the transfer market this summer, signing some of the biggest names in world football in the last nine months.

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The likes of Neymar, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Karim Benzema will all be playing football in Saudia Arabia next season, with the league keen to add Varane to their list of talent on display.

This is according to Saudi journalist Nawaf Oga, who has claimed that Al-Ittihad are in preliminary talks with United over a transfer for Varane – they already employ his French compatriots in Benzema and N’golo Kante, and recently signed former-Liverpool midfielder Fabinho.

Further to this, the report also claims that Varane has given “positive indications” about moving to the Saudi league, which is in contrast to news that broke on Friday morning saying that although there had been contact, Varane wants to continue playing in Europe for at least another season.

Varane is under contract at United until 2025 and has previously stated that he feels he will retire from football at either Old Trafford or his first club, French side Lens.

“I will finish my career either in Madrid, or in Manchester, or in Lens,” Varane told GQ Magazine in March. “I will not move to another club [other than those].

“But Madrid seems complicated to me. Players don’t usually go back there. The most likely outcome today is that I will finish [my career] in either Manchester or Lens.”