Manchester United are pushing hard to try and sign France international centre-back Raphael Varane.
Spanish newspaper AS report Real Madrid are willing to do a deal with United this week for around £52 million.
The ball is in United’s court whether to pay up, and with Varane ready to make the move, this deal could get done sooner rather than later.
Signing Varane would be huge for the squad, and it would surely enchant striker Edinson Cavani, who is a big fan.
Speaking in 2018, Cavani went on record to say he believed Varane would have been a worthy Ballon d’Or winner.
Cavani told RMC: “Varane may well be there, Griezmann, Mbappe… I think a Frenchman should win, there are other players who could, but it should be a Frenchman, they have won the World Cup.
“Modric has had a great season, but his team-mate Varane won the Champions League and the World Cup, Modric was a finalist and had a great campaign, but Varane deserves it more.”
Luka Modric ended up being named the surprise winner of the award, breaking up the Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo duopoly for one year.
Varane can make Cavani sharper
Cavani’s admiration for Varane will have been a grudging one. Varane scored a crucial quarter-final goal at the 2018 World Cup to set France on their way to a 2-0 victory against his Uruguay side.
The duo have enjoyed a couple of Champions League battles too, most recently in the same year, 2018, when PSG were beaten 5-2 over two legs in the last 16. Cavani scored one of PSG’s goals.
After seeing Varane’s quality first hand, Cavani would definitely welcome another big player join United, especially when he is his final season at the club as it stands and wants to win immediately.
Expect the pair to enjoy some fierce training sessions too. Iron sharpens iron and Varane and Cavani can make each other better through competition at Carrington as they go up against one another in attack versus defence drills or inter-squad matches.
United have to get the Varane deal done first so we won’t get too carried away, but it is looking very positive right now. This is a transfer opportunity the club can’t afford to screw up.
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