Man Utd outcast refused to give up shirt number for Raphael Varane

Phil Jones refused to give his No.4 shirt to Raphael Varane following the defender’s move to Manchester United, according to reports.

United finally completed their £42.7 million deal for Varane on Saturday and unveiled the World Cup winner in front of a packed Old Trafford crowd before their Premier League opener against Leeds United.

Varane held up his new No.19 shirt to the United supporters, who gave their new signing a huge ovation.

According to Manchester Evening News, Varane had targeted the No.4 shirt following his departure from Real Madrid.

However, it’s understood that Jones, who hasn’t played for United since January 2020, wanted to keep the No.4 jersey.

Jones has been sidelined for over 18 months due to injury but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer indicated this week that the 29-year-old is closing in on a return.

‘I’m impressed by his resilience in training,’ Solskjaer said this week.

‘We have to manage the workload early on.

‘I’ve been part of that myself after being out for the best part of a year and a little bit more than that. He’s been so determined and worked so hard.

‘Now is not the time to rush things, now is the time to really do the last bit perfectly. As I said, Reserve games, Under-23s, maybe behind closed doors.

‘He’s already had in-house games against the 23s so it’s looking good.’

Meanwhile, United got their campaign off to an excellent start with a 5-1 victory over Leeds United.

And Paul Scholes says he is cautiously optimistic over United’s Premier League title chances this season.

‘It’s hard not to [get excited] when you see a performance like that, first game of the season,’ Scholes told Premier League Productions.

‘United teams over the last six or seven years, it’s not always been as exciting as what we’ve seen now.

‘When Liverpool won the league for the first time, when City won the league for the first time, you felt them coming in the year or two before, you felt they were ready to win the league. I didn’t really get that impression last year. I wonder whether this is the year that ‘they’re coming’ and it’ll be next year they win the league. I don’t know.

‘It’s hard to say, it’s the first game of the season, but you can be nothing but excited by what we’ve seen today, and what’s to come from the rest of the squad.’

For more stories like this, check our sport page

Follow Metro Sport across our social channels, on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram

Source: Read Full Article