Ten Hag can forget about Varane with Man Utd swoop for £78m titan

The January transfer window officially opened for business on Monday and Manchester United could dip into the market to bolster their squad this month.

Erik ten Hag could need to add to his options at the heart of his defence amid growing uncertainty surrounding the future of Raphael Varane.

The Daily Mail recently claimed that the club have decided not to activate the 12-month extension clause in his £340k-per-week contract, which means that the centre-back is due to leave on a free transfer in the summer.

He is now free to speak with foreign teams to put pen to paper on a pre-contract deal ahead of an exit from Old Trafford at the end of the season.

Ten Hag could forget all about Varane by securing a deal for Leny Yoro, who is a reported target for the club and available for a fee of €90m (£78m).

Varane’s season in numbers

The 30-year-old enforcer has featured in 11 Premier League matches so far this season for United and started alongside Jonny Evans in the recent 2-1 defeat to Nottingham Forest.

Ten Hag’s side have only kept two clean sheets in those 11 games and Varane has not been an outstanding contributor for the team from a defensive perspective.

The former Real Madrid star has averaged 0.7 tackles and 0.7 interceptions per game in the top-flight, which places him 18th and seventh within the United squad respectively and this shows that he is not one of the top-performing defenders at the club.

He has also made 3.9 ball recoveries per match and won 69% of his individual duels, which shows that opposition players have found it difficult to get the better of him in physical contests.

United and ten Hag have seemingly decided that his performances have not been good enough to warrant a contract extension, and they could now forget about him by swooping for another player in his position.

Leny Yoro’s season in numbers

Yoro has established himself as a regular starter for Lille in Ligue 1 with 16 appearances and 15 starts during the 2023/24 campaign to date.

His emergence in the first-team for the French side is an incredible achievement when you consider that he only turned 18 in November 2023.

The impressive teenager, who talent scout Jacek Kulig described as “world-class material“, is a staggering 12 years younger than Varane but has outperformed him so far this term.

Yoro has averaged 1.3 tackles and 1.3 interceptions per game in Ligue 1 for Lille, which is almost twice as many per match as the United dud. He has also made 4.2 ball recoveries per outing for the French side.

Despite his inexperience and young age, the 18-year-old has won an impressive 67% of his duels throughout the top-flight campaign so far.

These statistics suggest that Yoro has the quality to win possession and cut out opposition attacks far more frequently than Varane, whilst being able to dominate attackers with similar effectiveness.

At the age of 18, the French titan could arrive as a fantastic signing for United in the short-term, given his superior statistics in comparison to his compatriot, whilst also being a terrific long-term addition with the potential to improve and develop over the years to come.

Therefore, ten Hag can forget all about Varane and focus on the future of his defence by securing a deal for the £78m-rated colossus.