Manchester United have turned their attention to signing Real Madrid centre-back Raphael Varane now that they have finally struck a deal to sign Borussia Dortmund's Jadon Sancho, with a deal for the Frenchman close to completion.
The year-long saga of United's pursuit of Sancho is finally nearing its end after the Red Devils agreed a fee of around £73m, with Sancho penning a five-year contract with the option for a further season.
It's taken an eternity, but United have seemingly got the job done, and now they can switch their focus on to other potential signings. According to The Telegraph, it's Varane who is sitting pretty at the top of their shopping list.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes finding a centre-back partner for Harry Maguire is the most-pressing issue on his Sancho-less list of things to sort out, and Varane is billed as the priority target for United this summer.
The 28-year-old Frenchman, who has been on United's radar since before he joined Real in 2011, has continued to reject talks over a new contract at the Santiago Bernabeu in search of a new challenge, and United are keen to give him that.
ESPN claim talks between the two teams have made real progress in recent days and United are now said to be close to getting a deal done, with a fee of around £43m likely to be enough to convince Real to sell.
Whether that fee would actually get the deal done or not remains to be seen. We've already had reports of United failing with a £50m bid for Varane, who was initially expected to cost closer to the £80m mark.
United were understandably reluctant to get anywhere near that, but they have not been deterred and appear to be close to getting a deal done.
Should a move for Varane collapse, United are expected to turn to Villarreal's Pau Torres, with The Guardian claiming the 24-year-old is actually Solskjaer's preferred target.
As well as a centre-back, United are pursuing a new central midfielder, with the likes of West Ham's Declan Rice and Bayern Munich's Leon Goretzka touted as potential targets.
There is even still some hope that a new striker could come in. Tottenham's Harry Kane remains the first-choice target in that position, but Edinson Cavani's contract extension means a new striker is no longer a priority.
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Source : 90min