Raphael Varane to leave United

11101 said:
Always wished we had signed him all those years ago from Lens. A proper world class centre back in his day.

As for us, we're back to square one again. I had assumed we bought him (and Casemiro) to plug a gap whilst we searched for a long term option. Instead we've not lifted a finger and will be needing to spend big for a top class starting centre back this summer.
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Yup. So fecking frustrating. We need to be going for somebody who’s no older than I.
 
Withnail said:
Not sure about that.

The talk months ago was that his contract was not being renewed. I never heard anything different. The man can't stay fit enough for the demands of the PL.
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The talk was all about how he was playing Jonny Evans over him and there was a rift. We'll see, I'm pretty sure he'd have extended if he knew ten hag wouldn't be the manager next season.
hobbers said:
Rubbish. He was leaving regardless of anything to do with managers this summer.

This was decided around Christmas.
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Fair enough, I disagree.
Glorio said:
Rumoured? By who, pray tell?
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I was trying to search for it but can't find it, it was an article at the time of the rift and then coming back to the negotiating table. Anyway, not claiming it as fact, but I think he renews if he knew Ten Hag was being replaced with someone.
 
Understandable but a shame. Has been one of my favourite defenders for ages.
 
ShoePolish said:
Another one leaving on a free. Not sure how we are able to sustain this business model, the amount of players we've signed for huge money and flogged for much less or just released is absurd.
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It’s better than extending them for years and years.
 
hobbers said:
He never had the chance to renew on those terms it was United's decision.

If he wanted to stay he had to negotiate a lower salary because the club were categorically not triggering his extension on £340k a week. Same situation as De Gea last year except unlike then Varane didnt agree new terms at all.
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Well he would have a 25% reduction now anyway from not being in the CL, so I'm sure we'd be happy to trigger it.

I don't even understand why extending it a year would be an issue anyway, you'd have to spend 30m+ and the wages to replace him and we've attempted to sell every other CB, bar Martinez. We need to have some actual experience back there.
 
I don't have time to read through 6 pages, did anyone mention that he's a great player but too injury prone yet?
 
Solius said:
Bit of a shame really. His injuries really prevented him from ever reaching his top level with us.

He went under the radar a lot of the time and we were easily a lot better when he played. I think one of the reasons we've conceded so many cut-backs this season is due to his absences. He's absolutely elite at defending that near post area.

Wish him all the best.
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Yep, lost a bit of his dominance defending wide spaces but he’s by far our best box defender and it isn’t really close. Never really got much credit for it while he was here
 
Good news. 340k/week freed up from the wage bill, 590k/week already combined with Martial's departure. Casemiro will probably leave as well, that'll push it to 940k/week freed up just on contract expiries. Incredible.

Varane is a decent player, though, but I've been saying it for months that Maguire is the one we should be keeping from the Varane-Maguire-Lindelöf trio. Just makes the most sense IMO, especially with ETH probably getting sacked, Maguire might find his way back into the starting XI under someone like Tuchel or whoever we replace the Dutchman with.

NotoriousISSY said:
Was he offered a new contract?

Just curiosity on my part as I don’t use twitter anymore.
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Apparently yes, but on way lower wages.
 
Such a class player when fit and a great human being.
 
Shame that he didn't live up to expectations due to constant injuries. Best of luck to him going forward.
 
Lash said:
I don't even understand why extending it a year would be an issue anyway, you'd have to spend 30m+ and the wages to replace him and we've attempted to sell every other CB, bar Martinez. We need to have some actual experience back there.
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We need some experience but we also need fit players, and he's just not fit for enough matches. If we're going to keep someone, better keep a CB who is less injury prone.
 
DJ_21 said:
If only we had proper people running the football club back then.
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We also happened to have a certain Vidic and Ferdinand, backed up by the likes of Evans, Smalling, Brown, and O'Shea, so the pressure may have not been as high to prioritize him. We were apparently haggling over a 10m fee at time, which given the career he went on to have, wouldn't been peanuts to pay at the time.
 
Surprised they didn’t double his salary and give him a five year contract. That’s usually the norm. Best of luck to him, pity he’s injury prone,
 
Weird decision, I was under the impression Tuchel rated him seeing as he wanted him at Bayern
 
Varane won three La Liga titles and four Champions League trophies in his time at Real Madrid before joining United under then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

He won the World Cup with France in 2018 before retiring from international football in February 2023.
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The former France international helped United win the Carabao Cup in 2023 when manager Erik ten Hag's side beat Newcastle United in the final.
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Woot.
 
£42m we paid for him and not a penny back in transfers.

The way we've wrecklessly thrown money around in the last few years has been shocking.
 
A really likeable person and footballer, sad to see him go in that way but it looks like his body isn't upto it anymore so good decision for both parties.
 
Really good defender when fit. Unfortunately he came to us in mediocre times. Best move for all involved.
 
Great player to have had in the club. But a bit too much like other's we've had, in that regard. Reminds me of Blanc, 10 years too late..
 
Sad, but expected news, and an understandable decision.

Hope he doesn't go to Saudi. He can still play at a decent level for a few more seasons.
 
I thought the triangle of Varane, Martinez and Casemiro would be our foundation for a few years.
Now Varane's gone, Casemiro can't play at this level anymore and will likely be sold and Martinez has become injury prone.
 
next_number_seven said:
I thought the triangle of Varane, Martinez and Casemiro would be our foundation for a few years.
Now Varane's gone, Casemiro can't play at this level anymore and will likely be sold and Martinez has become injury prone.
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Yup. It’s very depressing. They were stellar between October and February last season.
 
Amir said:
We need some experience but we also need fit players, and he's just not fit for enough matches. If we're going to keep someone, better keep a CB who is less injury prone.
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As I mentioned before though, if we're not playing midweek, I don't think he would have any issues. He would be absolutely ideal to have in the squad and you could buy a younger CB to ultimately take over from him the year after.
 
Class act, and still a great defender on his day - just look at his MOTM performance against the scousers for proof of this.

It's the right decision though of course. I hope he heads to a decent league and finds some fitness despite the calls of the Saudi league.
 
Great player, good knowledge of the game and positioning for defenders, but arrived here when he was past his best and beset by niggling injuries that limited his involvement.

I suspect like Casemiro, Varane came to a Manchester United that was not the Manchester United he expected, and you can understand from his point of view as he comes towards the end of his career that he doesn't want to be playing in a side that's struggling, with a manager that wants to stick to his guns, whatever the cost.

He will be looking for 'a soft place to fall' next season.... don't blame him and wish him well.
 
It's a good decision not to offer him a new contract, he is a good defender but his fitness record is appalling, let's move on from these types of signing and find young and hungry players, it's not bad to sign older or experienced players but paying a fee and offering top salaries prevent the club from being flexible in the transfer market.
 
Lash said:
As I mentioned before though, if we're not playing midweek, I don't think he would have any issues. He would be absolutely ideal to have in the squad and you could buy a younger CB to ultimately take over from him the year after.
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Well, we still don't know for sure if we'll be playing midweek and won't know for sure for another 11 days.

And no, I don't think that there's ever anything ideal about having a injury prone player around. You just never know when they'll be out again, and the number of matches is not the only barometer.

We'll need to bring in younger, fitter CBs anyway. Might as well get rid of some of the CB's we've already got. Hopefully we can also sell someone like Lindelof, but it remains to be seen. Letting go of someone whose contract is up is a no brainer for me.
 
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