It’s no secret that Raphael Varane could be leaving Real Madrid this summer transfer window. The French international’s contract runs out next year in June and there have been no significant progression in the renewal negotiations either. With that being said, it all points towards a transfer after the EUROS.
In my previous article, I mentioned the three clubs that Varane could end up playing for next season. While a transfer looks likely for Raphael Varane this summer, I strongly believe that Los Blancos could end up regretting their decision and I have come up with three reasons why to back it up. Let’s have a look at the reasons.
THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT FOR REAL MADRID
Real Madrid signed a promising 19-year-old Raphael Varane in the 2011/12 summer transfer window. Since then, the Frenchman has been part of the first team and plied his trade under some of the best managers in Jose Mourinho, Carlo Ancelotti, and Zinedine Zinedine. Over the years, Varane has been groomed into this world-class defender that he is today.
After so many years of development, Real Madrid must now enjoy the fruit of all the hard work that has gone into shaping Varane. At the age of 28, the Frenchman is at the peak of his powers and has now entered the prime years of his career.
With that being said, the only viable reasoning would be to extend terms with Varane. He’s at his best condition in terms of physical matchday conditioning and even in his performances. It is true that Los Blancos have achieved a lot of success through Varane’s contributions in the past years. However, there’s still more to come from the defender for the next five years.
Raphael Varane should play out the best years of his career at the Santiago Bernabeu rather than any of the clubs he has been linked with.
NO PROPER REPLACEMENTS AT REAL MADRID
Eder Militao has been a fantastic deputy to Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane last season in their absence. The Brazilian was paired with Nacho in the heart of the defence remained resilient during the business end of 2020/21.
While Militao and Nacho have been fantastic back-ups for Varane and Ramos, it would be unwise of Real Madrid to replace the Frenchman and the Spaniard with Militao and Nacho based on half a season performance.
As of now, the club has no proper replacement for Varane. David Alaba can be considered as a replacement, however, we still do not know how Carlo Ancelotti is going to use the versatile defender.
On that note, the club has also been linked with Sevilla’s Jules Kounde and Villarreal’s Pau Torres. The duo are exceptional talents with immense potential to develop into one of the best. However, they are still far off from Varane’s quality and cannot be considered as immediate replacements due to their young age.
Varane is at the peak of his career and it would only make sense to replace him with someone near about the same age or quality. Someone like Alaba would be good, but again, there is no assurance on how Ancelotti will make use of the former Bayern Munich defender.
REAL MADRID CANNOT LOSE RAMOS AND VARANE TOGETHER
It is no secret that Sergio Ramos is yet to ink fresh terms with Real Madrid. El Captain’s contract expires at the end of June which will then make him a free agent. According to AS, Ramos and Florentino Perez are set to renegotiate terms once again after failing to reach an agreement last time around.
However, if Ramos does end up leaving as a free agent this summer, Los Blancos cannot allow Raphael Varane to leave as well. It would be unwise to let two of your first team defenders who are also considered the best in the world, walk out in the same transfer window.
If both Ramos and Varane leave together, it would certainly create a crisis in the backline with Nacho, Militao, and Alaba being the only experienced options at the back. On that note, Real Madrid should attempt to extend terms with Ramos and Varane this summer to prevent a possible crisis in the defence.
However, it could be tricky to renew terms with Varane as the Frenchman has offers on his table from Chelsea, Manchester United, and Paris Saint-Germain who are offering a better contract. Real Madrid would have to counter these offers if they are to renew terms with Raphael Varane.