Man Utd green light to sign top centre-back after major deal is agreed

Manchester United have reportedly been given the green light to swoop for Real Madrid centre-back Raphael Varane after the Spanish giants clinched a deal for his replacement.

It was revealed on Wednesday that veteran Bayern Munich star David Alaba had agreed a five-year contract to move to the Bernabeu this summer. The formal signing is expected to take place at some point over the next few weeks.

The Manchester Evening News claims that is a significant development in United’s bid to land Varane. They state the Spanish giants will now be more likely to offload the Frenchman.

The report adds that Los Blancos will need to cash in on the 27-year-old, given their poor financial situation.

Real could lose the player for nothing in the summer of 2022, so selling him now makes perfect financial sense.


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Varane would be a clear upgrade over Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly to partner Harry Maguire at the heart of the back four.

His pace and power would form a nice balance and give Ole Gunnar Solskjaer his preferred back two.

Raphael Varane; Olivier Giroud TEAMtalk

Real were previously asking for as much as £60million for the World Cup winner. However, they are likely to lower that figure now that they Alaba on board.

Getting Varane for a cheaper fee would also give Solskjaer more money to spend on other areas of his team.

A central striker and a right-winger remain the other priorities for the Red Devils chief.


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Woodward ESL role revealed

Departing Manchester United executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward never felt truly comfortable with the European Super League plans, a report claims.

United announced the senior figure’s impending departure on Tuesday amid the collapse of the attempted breakaway. Despite a bombshell announcement of their intentions, all six Premier League clubs backed out of the plan within 48 hours. Indeed, after Chelsea withdrew their interest, United and their other ‘Big Six’ rivals followed.

Amid the chaos, the Red Devils revealed that Woodward, a key figure at Old Trafford, is to leave.

Avram Glazer, Ed Woodward Man Utd 2016

The 49-year-old intended to depart at the end of the year, but according to the Daily Telegraph, his club brought forward the statement of his exit through fears that media outlets would leak the news.

The newspaper also reveals that it was not the fan outrage at the ESL plan which sped up the exit announcement.

Instead, Woodward had ‘serious misgivings’ over the competition which was announced on Sunday evening. He was also not as central to the competition’s proposals as first thought.

He felt ‘uncomfortable’ with ‘significant’ parts of its structure. Furthermore, he had a big regret in not speaking up strongly enough to his fellow executives about his concerns.

READ MORE: Man Utd star fired up for ‘English Clasico’ with Leeds