Wednesday, March 10, 2021 at 2:05 PM• Rian Rosendaal • Last update: 14:08

Raphaël Varane wants to leave Real Madrid after this season despite an ongoing contract until mid-2022 ASH report on Wednesday. According to the Spanish newspaper, the 27-year-old center-back has already submitted a transfer request to the club management of Real. Varane has reportedly set his sights on a new challenge at a Premier League club.

ASH further reports that Real is ready to listen to offers from other clubs this summer. The Spanish title contender wants to prevent at all costs that the French mandekker leaves the Santiago Bernabéu with a transfer-free status in more than a year. Varane feels that after ten seasons with Real, he is ready for a different work environment, with a clear preference for England. Real doesn’t seem to be able to change his mind either. For the time being, partly due to the financial consequences of the corona crisis, no concrete offers have yet been received from the management of the international of France.

Varane turns 28 in April and is normally in the best years of his active career. If he renews his contract with Real for several seasons, the chance that he will ever be able to change clubs is getting smaller. He also openly doubted a longer stay in Madrid in 2019, although that did not lead to a departure at the time. Since his transition from Racing Lens to the Spanish superpower, Varane has made 352 appearances in almost ten seasons. With Real, he won the Champions League four times and three national titles, among other things.

Real has according to ASH the search for a successor to Sergio Ramos has now been turned into a search for a suitable replacement for Varane. The board of the number three in LaLiga assumes that Ramos will at least be connected to the club. Three top candidates are in the picture for the succession of Varane: David Alaba (Bayern Munich), Pau Torres (Villarreal) and Jules Koundé (Seville). Various Spanish media recently reported that an agreement had already been reached with Alaba on a four-year contract, although the final confirmation from all parties involved has not yet been confirmed.