Last year Manchester City (Man City) pulled off the signing off the summer in the shape of Ruben Dias. This year it looks like Manchester United and Chelsea want to mount a title challenge by following in their footsteps.
No, not by heading to Liga NOS on a scouting mission, but instead by bringing in a top drawer centre back; namely those players being Raphael Varane and Jules Kounde.
Raphael Varane nears United move
We’ll start with a look at Manchester United’s move in the market. The Old Trafford club has been busy over the past few days. Jadon Sancho is now a United player after completing a £73m move from Borussia Dortmund, then Ole Gunnar Solksjaer penned a new deal as manager and now, it’s looking highly likely that they’ll be making Raphael Varane their next signing.
The 28-year-old will arrive from Real Madrid in a deal worth around £40m plus potential add ons. It has been described as a terrific business by most. Varane is not only in his prime but experienced in lifting trophies; that’s something the Red Devil’s have failed to do since Solskjaer replaced Jose Mourinho back in December 2018.
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Varane will land in Manchester to complete the formalities of a deal next week with Covid isolation rules the only roadblock to the deal being completed. With him, Varane will bring a pedigree of a World Cup and serial Champions League winner. He and Harry Maguire will be one of the most dominant defensive pairings in the league next year; it could give Man United a major boost in their hunt to win the Premier League crown that has eluded them since the days of Sir Alex Ferguson.
Kounde to join Chelsea
The other club reportedly close to the acquisition of a top La Liga centre half is Chelsea. Thomas Tuchel is keen to bring Jules Kounde to Stamford Bridge with Sevilla expected to be powerless to prevent such a move.
The Blues, who won the Champions League, had the best defensive record in the league last season in the period after Tuchel replaced Frank Lampard but the man getting most game time – Thiago Silva – isn’t getting any younger.
Kounde, a French international, has been with Sevilla since 2019. The bad news for Chelsea is the fact he has three years to run on his contract. It means his signature won’t come cheap. With Chelsea able to offer Premier League and Champions League football, big wages, and a real prospect of elite trophies, Kounde is desperate to move. Of course, Sevilla isn’t keen to lose another of their main men; Bryan Gil has already left for Tottenham.
The easiest path to tread for Chelsea will be to meet the release clause within Kounde’s contract. That’s set just shy of £70m. Yes, it’s a lot of money but it will immediately skip the process to personal terms. Despite that, it looks like the preferred deal for Chelsea is to reduce the cash involved.
This will see them include a makeweight – Kurt Zouma – in the transfer negotiations. The saga might twist and turn before it reaches its conclusion but we fully anticipate Kounde lining up in blue come September; that’s at the very latest.
There you have it, the two La Liga centre-backs that could be Premier League-bound.
Before you go…
Are you after a change of pace from the fast-moving world of soccer news? Why not switch your attention to another form of football with a look at the players with the most receiving yards in NFL history.
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