REAL MADRID have lined up Arsenal defender William Saliba as they hunt for the “next Raphael Varane”.
Central defender Saliba is back on loan at Saint-Etienne in Ligue 1 this season, following his summer £27million switch to the Emirates from the French club.
Saliba, 18, has made seven appearances this season, impressing in the Europa League games with Wolfsburg and Oleksdandria.
The defender is reportedly among three young stars Real boss Zinedine Zidane is looking at to unearth the next generation for the Bernabeu.
The others are also French. They are Monaco’s Benoit Badiashile and Marseille’s Boubacar Kamara.
Los Blancos legend Serge Ramos, 33, is nearing the end of his career.
Real’s main back up is Brazilian centre-half Eder Militao.
When Varane, 26, joined the Spanish giants from Lens in 2011 for £9m he was only 18 and went under the radar.
But Zidane will have to pay big bucks this time around to get any of his targets.
Arsenal will look for at least £50m if they decide to sell.
If anything, Gunners boss Unai Emery should bring Saliba back from France in January.
His side have been leaking goals this season, conceding 15 in just 11 Premier League games – the ninth worst in the division.
They also shipped five to Liverpool’s kids in the Carabao Cup last week.
However, Emery is happy for him to remain in France at the moment as he has David Luiz, Sokratis, Mustafi, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers among his central defensive options.
He said: “Really I am with patience because we want to choose the best solution.
“Some players are very expensive and we are waiting for this possibility.
“We don’t want now to go to the second line of players.
“We are waiting. We have very good players. We have very good young players.”
