Man Utd 'make decision' on defender's future with summer exit 'likely'

Raphael Varane is 'likely' to leave Manchester united as a free agent when his contract expires this summer with reports suggesting the club want to get his wages off the books.

Varane's future became uncertain earlier this season amid reports that the defender's contract expired in the summer, as opposed to the previous assumption that it ran until 2025. That extra year came in the form of an optional extension but United decided against activating it at a point when they did so for three others - those being Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof and Hannibal Mejbri.

Manager Erik ten Hag insisted that the club remained in talks with Varane and Anthony Martial, who is also in the final months of his contract, but both will leave as things stand. And according to Football Insider, the club are prepared to lose the experienced defender for free in a bid to offload his high wages.

Varane is said to be on around £340,000-per-week at United, an amount agreed when he penned a three-year deal after joining from Real Madrid in 2021. The 30-year-old is among the club's highest earners but that does not reflect his dwindling status within the first-team picture this season.

Varane was dropped by Ten Hag towards the end of last year after a couple of poor performances in Europe, with the Dutchman citing tactical reasons for the decision to start the likes of Harry Maguire - who was up for sale all summer - and Jonny Evans over the World Cup and Champions League winner. He has returned to the starting line-up in recent weeks, with Maguire joining Lisandro Martinez on the injury list, albeit the former was back in training this week and the latter returned against Tottenham.

With less than six months remaining on his deal, Varane is already free to speak with foreign clubs and can negotiate a pre-contract arrangement, all but confirming his summer exit. For now, the French international is said to be focused on keeping his place in the team and helping United improve on a poor first-half of the campaign.

United are known to be working on strengthening at centre-back in the summer, with Ten Hag keen to lower the age profile in that area. Varane is one of three central defenders that are 30 or above, while Lindelof will hit that milestone in July.

Links have mostly fit the younger profile of central defender wanted by United and included the likes of Lille's Leny Yoro, Everton's Jarrad Branthwaite and Ronald Araujo of Barcelona. Such moves will likely wait until the summer, once Sir Jim Ratcliffe's investment is fully ratified by the Premier League.