VARANE BOOST FOR UNITED
REAL Madrid are prepared to sell Raphael Varane to United this summer.
M.E.N. Sport understands the Spaniards are pessimistic about the possibility of the 27-year-old accepting their offer of a new contract and would rather obtain a fee in the summer than let him leave on a free next year.
Varane believes there is still too great a difference between his salary offer and what his best-paid team-mates are earning. Real have included the club captaincy in their terms to Varane but the centre-back is open to leaving after a garlanded 10-year career at the Bernabeu.
Madrid need to cut costs if they are to finance the dream signing of Paris SaintGermain phenomenon Kylian Mbappe.
United have prioritised signing a centre half to partner Harry Maguire in the summer transfer window and have a preference for experience. Varane has been a long-standing target of United’s.
The United executive vicechairman Ed Woodward was prepared to sanction a £100m move for him following the 2018 World Cup, but Real’s value was well in excess of that figure at the time.
Varane has won four Champions Leagues, three La Liga titles, the Copa del Rey and four Club World Cups with Madrid and started in all seven of France’s matches in their triumphant 2018 World Cup campaign.
WHETHER or not Luke Shaw misheard what referee Stuart Attwell said to Harry Maguire during United’s 0-0 draw with Chelsea is now immaterial.
The left-back initially relayed a quote from the official, suggesting he was worried about the controversy he would cause by handing the Reds a penalty for Callum Hudson-Odoi’s handball.
United were quick to stamp out any further fuel their defender had thrown on the fire, insisting Shaw misheard the referee. But the ire of their manager remained, whatever was said on the pitch after Attwell had consulted the VAR screen and signalled for no penalty.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had it right, but he also knew venting the full extent of his anger would benefit United in the long run. There was no use in holding back.
The Norwegian, like many Reds fans, thought they should have had the chance to go 1-0 up from 12 yards at Stamford Bridge. If Bruno Fernandes had converted the penalty, the game would have been very different.
But it was clear Solskjaer had an ulterior motive when discussing United’s penalty record, which isn’t nearly as healthy as season.
He said: “It’s all these outside influences, VAR talk from [Chelsea] about Harry [Maguire] - that’s cheeky putting it on their website, that’s influencing referees. You can read what they’re saying about Harry Maguire, putting pressure on referees to give penalties against us.
“We’ve seen a manager, was it Frank [Lampard] that started it? There’s loads of talk about us getting penalties when there is no doubt whatsoever. And now, today, we should have had a penalty. That’s as clear as it is.”
It was probably a slip of the tongue that Solskjaer named Lampard - a manager currently not working rather than the obvious candidate, when mentioning other managers’ references to United’s penalties. And in any case, Solskjaer pledged to have moved on from the furore, speaking ahead of the Crystal Palace game tonight.
Jurgen Klopp started the it was last fire, randomly choosing to talk about United after his side lost 1-0 to Southampton earlier this season. “Man United had more penalties in two years than me in five-and-ahalf years,” said Klopp, unprompted. His comments have not been forgotten by his opposite number Solskjaer.
Klopp’s facts weren’t quite right, and in fact some illuminating statistics have come to light regarding United’s penalty record since the Liverpool boss mentioned it. They got a penalty once every 204 minutes in the 25 games before that Klopp press conference, while they’ve been given two in 16 games since (once every 720 minutes). They certainly should have been given twice that second number, in games at Fulham and Chelsea in the past couple of months.
It is likely a coincidence, even if United now feel they’re not getting the rub of the green. Solskjaer’s rage will have resonated with Klopp and other managers though, even if Shaw’s comment
We all know it’s a highpressure situation and we just have to accept decisions when they are made and move on
was probably unwise. The pair have escaped punishment from the FA, as their comments were deemed not to be a breach of their regulations, though it’s with regards to the mind games played by Klopp that Solskjaer may have the last laugh.
Even if his comments force the Liverpool boss and others to think twice about having an ‘outside influence,’ then the Norwegian has succeeded.
The vast majority of United’s penalties prior to the debate prompted by Klopp were perfectly legitimate and should not have been questioned.
United will continue creating opportunities for spot-kicks to be awarded, and Fernandes’ record from the spot suggests he will put them away.
Nobody is suggesting referees have been influenced by Klopp, Lampard, or anyone else - or that they will be influenced by Solskjaer.
The United manager has rightly said they shouldn’t be, and that penalties should be given on merit.
But perhaps doubt will be put into the minds of Klopp, the curators of the Chelsea website, or anyone else from a rival team when it comes to questioning the men in black.
“We all know it’s a high-pressure situation and we just have to accept decisions when they’re made and we move on,” said Solskjaer yesterday.
“I think the refs have a difficult enough job without extra pressure.
“We should just leave them to it, make as many good decisions as they can.”