Raphaël Varane to walk from Manchester United this summer after “huge” development

Raphaël Varane is set to walk away from Manchester United this summer once his contract expires at the end of this season, according to reports.

Raphaël Varane‘s time at Manchester United has been a mix of fantastic form and extended periods on the treatment table – but when he’s fit, he is a brilliant asset for Erik ten Hag.

Last season, Varane formed a formidable partnership with Lisandro Martínez in defence under Ten Hag. However, both players were taken off injured during a Europa League tie against Sevilla at Old Trafford last season, and they have barely played together since.

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Varane’s current contract expires in June 2024, and although the club have the option to extend it by a further year, they have taken the decision not to do so, and it has been said that they hope to convince Varane to sign a new deal on a lower wage.

But now, according to FootballInsider, this is no longer the case. Their report explains that United will now let Varane leave Old Trafford this summer, regardless of what happens during the rest of the season.

It is said that the reasoning behind this is that United are keen to make a “huge saving” by getting Varane’s wages off the books, with the former French international reportedly making £340,000-a-week at United.

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However, TheSwedishRumble has broken down the financial benefits and drawbacks of getting rid of Raphaël Varane and keeping Harry Maguire.

“Just for the record, keeping Maguire comes at a much higher cost than resigning Varane at 340k a week (one would expect that he would take a pay cut, but regardless),” it was explained.

“The cost for Maguire next season is 13.3m (amortization) and 8.5m wages, ie 21.8m. The cost for Varane’s £340k/week wage is 17.6m per year. In addition, if we keep Maguire and let Varane walk we get zero transfer fee.

“We should at least be able to get 30m for Maguire if we pay 5m of his wages, which nets gives us 25m. So from a financial point of view, it is a complete no-brainer to sell Maguire and keep Varane — if it is one or the other. And it’s not even remotely close to be honest.”

There have been rumblings that Cristiano Ronaldo is keen to bring Varane to his Saudi Pro League side Al Nassr this summer, with the club looking to hand Varane a £50 million 2-year deal.