Mark Goldbridge has called on Manchester United to offload Juan Mata and Nemanja Matic this summer in order to free up the wages and fees available to sign Raphael Varane from Real Madrid.
Varane has been linked with a move to Old Trafford in recent weeks after it had been reported that he wasn’t happy with the contract he had been offered to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu.
The Frenchman reportedly earns £150k per week in the Spanish capital, as it is reported he is looking for an increase in wages on the next contract he signs.
Goldbridge has called on United to cash in on their underused players such as Mata and Matic, who reportedly earn a combined £280k per week, despite only playing 29 Premier League games between them last season.
Speaking on The United Stand’s YouTube channel, Goldbridge had this to say about finding a solution to sign Varane:
“You’re going to spend 40 million on Raphael Varane. Yeah, the wages are going to be more, but if you clear Mata out and you clear Matic out, that’s nearly £300k a week in wages.
“So, you can cover Varane’s wages just by removing Mata and Matic, who to be honest with you, we’re not going to miss.
“I don’t think we even need to replace Matic and Mata hugely, because they don’t play anyway. Yeah, we do need a CDM, but we don’t use Matic, so let Matic and Mata go, spend the same transfer fee that you’d spend on [Ben] White for Varane, or [Pau] Torres and then use Mata and Matic’s wages to take on the more expensive wages.”
TIF Thoughts on Varane potentially joining Manchester United…
With Varane a four-time Champions League winner with Real Madrid, he would no doubt add some fantastic quality to the United defensive line. In addition, he could add some much-needed winning experience that could potentially help Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side get over the line in some of the semi-finals and finals they’ve lost in recent seasons.
For Mata, his contract expires at the end of this month and still, no decision has been made as to whether he will sign a fresh deal at Manchester United. Mata is 33 years old now and as Goldbridge explains, if United are wanting to sign some of the world-class players who could be available, getting big wages off the books would allow more wiggle room in the summer to offer out lucrative contracts to the likes of Varane.
Meanwhile, Matic’s contract has two more years left to run. But similarly, United could offload Matic in the upcoming window and look to recoup some of the £40m they spent to bring him to Manchester in 2017, which could then be used to subsidise Varane’s transfer fee – and with the Frenchman currently valued at £63m, it may well be a sizeable sum.