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Raphael Varane 'expresses desire to stay at Manchester United beyond January'

By Devesh Jaganath | 05 December 2023

Varane 'expresses desire to remain at Man United beyond January'

Raphael Varane reportedly expresses his desire to remain at Manchester United beyond the January transfer window amid speculation over his future at Old Trafford.

Raphael Varane has reportedly expressed his desire to remain at Manchester United beyond the January transfer window amid speculation over his future at Old Trafford.

Varane has only started one of Man United's last 11 games, with Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans featuring as the regular central defenders in recent weeks.

The 30-year-old was an unused substitute in last weekend's defeat against Newcastle United, with manager Erik ten Hag deploying Luke Shaw, who is returning from injury, alongside Maguire as the central defensive pairing.

According to Manchester Evening News, despite ongoing speculation about his future, Varane has not expressed any intention to depart Manchester during the upcoming transfer window.

The report adds that the 2018 World Cup winner is committed to realising his ambition of playing for Manchester United and would only reconsider that stance if the club indicated that they no longer want him.

Lisandro Martinez, who featured alongside Varane for the majority of the second half of last season, has also been out of action with an injury that is expected to keep him sidelined for a while longer.

With Sir Jim Ratcliffe's 25% share takeover expected to be confirmed any day now, United have been linked with several players in the upcoming transfer window.

Last month, Ten Hag asserted that there is no problem with Varane and emphasised that the limited playing time he has seen is a result of tactical decisions rather than any underlying issues.