Reports have emerged on Sunday that Tottenham Hotspur could rival Manchester United for Raphael Varane, as the his future at Real Madrid appears increasingly uncertain.
Varane has been heavily linked with Manchester United, who have been monitoring the player since before he left French football for Madrid in 2011.
The Times reports that Spurs have joined Paris St Germain in wanting to sign the player from Real.
It is thought that Madrid have been told by Varane's representatives that he wishes to join the highest earners at the La Liga club, but president Florentino Perez is reportedly preparing to accept offers of around £43m for Varane.
Perez himself is on record as to the parlous financial situation at his club, which was ostensibly one of the driving factors behind his failed driving of a European Super League.
"Whenever there is a change, there are always people who oppose it. We are doing this to save football at this critical moment," Perez told Spanish television in April, prior to the proposal's collapse.
"Audiences are decreasing and rights are decreasing and something had to be done. We are all ruined. Television has to change so we can adapt.
"Young people are no longer interested in football. Why not? Because there are a lot of poor quality games and they are not interested, they have other platforms on which to distract themselves."
Varane
Journalist Philippe Auclair told The Football Show that Manchester United fans can rightly be excited by the potential arrival of Varane.
"He is the kind of central defender that Manchester United have been waiting for, and I think they have been hoping that the Varane and Maguire partnership as being the Vidic and Ferdinand partnership," Auclair said.
"He has got everything that a top centre-back needs, in terms of technique, his passing is superb, he's good in the air and physically strong. He's very calm, which is the first quality that every scout noticed in him, even when he was at Lens.
"Even when he was a young man, he had that about him. This Rio Ferdinand calm, when everyone is going crazy around him he still had the head on his shoulders and can make the right choice.
"He's a good tackler but he doesn't need to tackle much, which is what you like in a central defender. Also, he's right footed, so you have got Maguire on the left and Raphael Varane on the right. That makes complete sense.
"You have got Luke Shaw on the left, they are starting to look like a proper defence to me. It's not saying that Lindelof or Eric Bailly are bad defenders, just that Varane is something else."
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