Raphael Varane transfer claim made as Man Utd boss Erik ten Hag gets ‘stay of execution’

Former Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson believes Raphael Varane will stay at Manchester United as he still one of their “best players”.

Man Utd bounced back from their 4-3 defeat to Copenhagen in the Champions League, which was their ninth defeat in 17 matches this season, to beat Luton Town 1-0 at Old Trafford on Saturday.

Despite putting in a number of underwhelming performances in recent weeks, Man Utd are now the form side in the Premier League over the last five matches with four wins.

Varane, who has had his problems with injuries again this season, has had to watch from the sidelines in recent weeks with Ten Hag preferring a centre-back partnership of Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof against Luton.

The former Real Madrid defender started off the season as Ten Hag’s favourite centre-back option alongside the injured Lisandro Martinez but now the Frenchman’s form and injuries mean he’s finding it hard to get a run of matches in the team.

There have been rumours that Saudi Arabian clubs are taking an interest in Varane’s situation at Old Trafford with reports of Man Utd lining up replacements for the World Cup winner.

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But former Spurs and Leeds goalkeeper Robinson doubts Man Utd would be prepared to sell the France international as he is still one of their “best players”.

“I can’t see it because of the way Man United are at the moment,” Robinson told Football Insider.

“Nobody ever thought, myself included, that we’d see a centre-back partnership of Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans in 2023.

“I think Ten Hag will bring Varane back into the line-up because he has to. Varane is a quality player.

“Again, at Man United, who is making the footballing decisions at the moment? The manager is probably having a stay of execution.

“Any other manager at Man United who have had the performances and the run of results that he’s had potentially wouldn’t be there now, but because of what’s going on off the field, he’s still there.

“Yes, there’s excuses from off the field, but last year it didn’t effect the football – this year it is.

“The manager needs the best players to fix that, and Varane is one of those.”

Maguire, who had interest from West Ham in the summer transfer window, chose to stay at Old Trafford despite his waning game time under Ten Hag at Man Utd.

The England international is now starting regularly again and when asked whether he feels as if it is personal vindication for staying, he said: “Of course.

“I played a few games last year, 16 or 17 starts, and I felt like I performed really well in the games I played in. I just didn’t play as many as I would have liked.

“On the other hand, Rapha (Varane) and Licha (Martinez) were playing brilliantly and kept numerous clean sheets. I had to bide my time and be patient.

“I had two or three opportunities last season to get a run of games but I broke down with illness, I broke down with injuries twice, so I never got the rhythm and never got the run of games that I could prove myself to the manager.

“I have got that now, I am really enjoying my football and I really enjoy playing for this club.

“I was willing to stay and fight for my place and we have four, five top international centre-backs at this club and the competition for places is really high.”