Manchester United are closing in on the signing of centre-back Raphael Varane from Real Madrid and have even been tipped to confirm the deal in the coming hours.
United have been pursuing Varane for a few weeks now, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer keen to take advantage of the fact that he has one year left on his contract and has been refusing to sign an extension.
We've known for a while now that things are moving in the right direction and Varane is likely to be playing his football at Old Trafford next year, but Cuatro believe confirmation of the Frenchman's move to Manchester could be coming on Monday.
It is said Varane agreed personal terms with United last week and the Red Devils have now struck a deal with Real Madrid over a transfer fee, which is expected to sit at around £43m.
The story picked up momentum with a claim from Sergio Quirante that Varane was the only player not seen at Real training on Monday morning, but the club then took to their official website to post pictures of the defender in training, bringing an end to that bit of the fun.
What we then got were a load of reports suggesting Varane's move to United is almost done, but most refused to go as far as to say confirmation is coming soon.
Fabrizio Romano said it's 'getting closer and closer'. The Athletic's David Ornstein added United are 'increasingly confident' and 'intensifying negotiations'. The Manchester Evening News note that Varane has already made preparations to fly to England.
It seems as though this one is definitely close to completion, but just how close remains to be seen.
United are looking to make Varane their third summer signing, following Tom Heaton and Jadon Sancho in sealing moves to Old Trafford.
There could be a few more new faces through the door in the coming weeks as well. United are working on signing Kieran Trippier from Atletico Madrid and are interested in Atleti's Saul Niguez as well, and there are even speculative hopes that Sevilla's Jules Kounde could join up too.
Source : 90min