According to Don Balon, Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho has made Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane a priority. The French international was a target for the Red Devils at the time of his move to Los Blancos from RC Lens in 2011.

Varane has made 16 La Liga appearances for Real this season, although the Spanish giants have struggled for form since their title triumph in 2016/17. Zinedine Zidane’s side are currently fourth in the table, 17 points adrift of leaders Barcelona after 23 games.

Manchester United are desperate for a world-class defender, with Victor Lindelof, Chris Smalling, Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo having been inconsistent when they’ve featured this season. Eric Bailly has been more convincing at the heart of the backline, but he’s missed a lot of the campaign through injury.

Reports from Spain suggest Mourinho wants a better class of defender than the options he currently has, with Don Balon saying: “Mourinho demands that United throw everything to sign Varane who has been on his list of priorities for the center of the defence.”

Varane has a £176m release clause which would be a club-record deal for United. Paul Pogba is their most expensive signing, joining from Juventus for £89m in 2016. It’s unknown how much the Red Devils are willing to pay for the French defender, however.