French football expert Jonathan Johnson believes Manchester United defender Raphael Varane could seal a transfer back to Lens once his contract at Old Trafford expires in the summer.
Speaking exclusively to CaughtOffside, Johnson explained that, with Man Utd taking the decision not to trigger a one-year extension to Varane’s contract, instead trying to get him to agree to a new deal on reduced wages, it most likely meant that the club and the player would be parting ways at the end of the season.
Varane could then return to Lens, rather than move somewhere like Saudi Arabia, according to Johnson, who added that the recent links to big names like Real Madrid and Bayern Munich are also genuine.
Still, Johnson has pointed out that the experienced Frenchman is not keen on playing so many games and running himself into the ground, so it may be that a year or two back at Lens might be a move that suits him well at this stage of his career.
“We’ve seen an interesting scenario develop at Manchester United, who have decided not to trigger the option to extend Raphael Varane’s contract by another year, instead hoping to get him to agree to a new deal on reduced wages. I can’t see United and Varane agreeing altered terms, so I suspect at this point that we’re probably about to see his last few months at Old Trafford if he doesn’t get a move this January,” Johnson said.
“There have been links with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich and I can confirm that these are real. We know that Bayern looked at Jerome Boateng a few months ago and then decided against that move, but they could still do with cover in defence. As already mentioned, Real Madrid might favour someone like Yoro over Varane, who would be more of a stop-gap solution, but the link isn’t too surprising given his past success with the club and the fact that he reported still has a house in Madrid.
“For the long term, there have been links with Saudi Arabia, but one to keep on sooner rather than later could also be his former club Lens. Varane has already retired from international duty and has been very vocal about how he feels players are being run into the ground from playing too many games. He’s not someone who really strikes me as a player who’s going to look to have a really long career, and so it wouldn’t surprise me if he wanted to finish his career off where it started at Lens.
“I could see him re-joining Lens for maybe a season or two and then possibly even calling it a day.”