Manchester United were willing to spend £100m on World Cup winner
Manchester United chief executive Ed Woodward was willing to make Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane the most expensive defender of all-time this summer, reports The Daily Telegraph.
Varane has been heavily linked with a move to United in recent years but the Red Devils have never come close to prising the France international away from Madrid.
Woodward had a brief chat with Madrid president Florentino Perez earlier this summer and mentioned Varane but nothing came from those talks.
United boss Jose Mourinho was desperate to sign a new centre-back this summer but Woodward overruled the Portuguese and refused to land one of his four main targets.
Woodward was unwilling to spend over the odds to land a defender that would not represent a significant upgrade on what United already have.
Leicester were demanding United make Harry Maguire one of the most expensive defenders of all-time, while Woodward was weary of signing another injury-prone player from Bayern Munich after Mourinho asked for Jerome Boateng.
United went off the idea of signing Yerry Mina from Barcelona due to extraordinary agent fees, while 29-year-old Toby Alderweireld was not valued at £60m when he is available for £25m next summer.
Varane is regarded as one of the best centre-backs in the world but is unlikely to leave Madrid anytime soon, even though United are willing to break the bank for his services.
Only Real Madrid team-mate Luka Modric (45) played more accurate long balls than Varane (44) of all outfielders at the 2018 World Cup.
Its very easy for a club to say we'd have paid a gazillion pounds for a player when there is no chance of the club who has the player of ever contemplating letting him go. The reality is that Deadwood and that inbred backwoods everglades trailer trash that are his masters were never seriously going to spend this summer. They've stuffed every manager they've ever had from Ferguson onward in the transfer market because they don't believe in it and in their surprisingly socialist way they don't believe in competition. To American owners transfers, tournament qualification and relegation are anathemas. They are used to sanitised sterile fake American sports with their cozy little draft and the same teams turning out season after season knowing they can lose every game and still be back next year. And all the while greedy owners cream bovine fans to line their pockets and if the fans get fed up with it they just up sticks and find another city for the franchise to base itself in,