Manchester United want to rid nearly £700,000-a-week in wages off their books by offloading Raphael Varane and Casemiro this summer, and a report has revealed the exits are part of a wider transfer policy implemented by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Varane and Casemiro are two of the leading stars of their generation. The pair combined for nine Champions League titles between them while in their primes at Real Madrid. Moves worth £41m for Varane and £60m for Casemiro were duly sanctioned by Man Utd in 2021 and 2022 respectively.

Varane’s career at Old Trafford has been ravaged by injuries. Casemiro, meanwhile, looked an inspired signing in his maiden season with United.

However, the veteran Brazilian has shown worrying signs of decline this season and is no longer effective at shielding his beleaguered backline.

Varane is understood to earn £340,000-a-week in Manchester, with Casemiro pocketing the slightly higher sum of £350,000-a-week.

The pair combine for just shy of £700,000-a-week in salary and neither player has come close to justifying that lofty outlay this season.

According to a fresh update from journalist Steve Bates (writing for GiveMeSport), Man Utd will push ahead with offloading both players this summer.

Saudi Arabia awaits?

Getting Varane off the books is a simple task given his current contract expires this summer anyway. United do have an option for an extra season, though they’ll not trigger it, at least not on Varane’s current terms.

Casemiro, meanwhile, is contracted to 2026. Finding a buyer for a declining 32-year-old midfielder on huge wages would ordinarily be difficult. However, Bates backed up prior claims of strong interest emerging in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudi Pro League would reportedly like to bring both players on board. Bates added discussions over the futures of the United pair are bubbling away behind the scenes.

Varane and Casemiro were already in the autumn of their careers upon joining Man Utd. Per Bates, signings of that type – labelled ‘Hollywood’ moves by the reporter – will be a thing of the past.

That is at the behest of new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe who has taken a dim view of Man Utd paying huge salaries for players who are short-term fixes at best.

Aside from Varane and Casemiro, deals sanctioned in the previous era for the likes of Bastian Schweinsteiger, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani were mentioned. The moves involving Alexis Sanchez and Radamel Falcao could also be added to that list.

Signing older players to huge contracts from a salary perspective will now be a ‘non-starter’ moving forwards.