Raphael Varane on his way to Manchester United?
The French champions could step up their interest once the contract ofZlatan Ibrahimovic expires and the Swede is off their payroll, even though Real Madrid are believed to have rejected the initial offer out of hand. Kazinform refers to the Guardian. Real feature prominently during an international break in which transfer speculation is thin on the ground, with the Star reporting that despite the shambles surrounding David de Gea's non-move to the Bernabéu, Manchester United will stick their hand back in the fire in an effort to sign French central defender Raphael Varane next summer. Previously linked with Chelsea, Varane was expected to move this summer after tiring of his role as a fringe player at Real, but signed a new contract with the Spanish club instead. Real president Florentino Pérez said last week that the 22-year-old was, along with Gareth Baleand Sergio Ramos, the subject of interest from United in recent weeks. The Rumour Mill can see no reason why Chelsea would want to let zippy centre-half Kurt Zouma go anywhere, but that hasn't stopped Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport hollering from the rooftops about Fiorentina's interest in bringing him to the Stadio Artemio Franchi on loan. Elsewhere in Italy, Juventus are reported to have turned down an €80 offer forPaul Pogba from Barcelona, with the prized midfielder apparently happy to stay put in Turin for the time being. "It was not the right time for me to go and I could very well remain at Juventus," said Pogba. "Right now I'm still happy to be there. We will finish the season and then we'll see again." Manchester United plan to dangle Adnan Januzaj, currently on loan at Borussia Dortmund, on the end of a fishing line in the hope of luring his new club-mateMarco Reus to Old Trafford at some point in the future. In other news pertaining to United, the club have told De Gea he won't be going anywhere in January and have asked Paul Scholes to come and coach their under-19 team. Chelsea's relentless, Terminator-style pursuit of John Stones will continue when they launch a fifth bid for the Everton defender in January. With PSG reported to be ramping up their interest in Seamus Coleman, the Toffees could find themselves two classy defenders down in the new year. And finally, the Telegraph reports that Barcelona will offer Neymar a new contract worth £500,000 a week over six years to stop Manchester United or anyone else getting their mitts on their prize Brazilian. That's good work if you can get it.
