Manchester United remain in talks over the possible transfer of Raphael Varane from Real Madrid.
United have had a £50million bid for the Frenchman rejected, with Los Blancos holding out for a fee in the region of £80million, despite Varane having just 12 months to run on his current contract.
Should Varane arrive this summer then he will be short on options for squad numbers, with the number four he wears for club and country currently occupied by Phil Jones (although it would be an easy decision to give the number to Varane given Jones hasn't played since January 2020), while 14, 15 and 20 and 28 may all be in use when various players return from loan stints.
Available shirt numbers for Varane if he moves to Manchester United
12 - Chris Smalling previously wore the No.12 for United before departing for Roma two years ago, leaving it unoccupied.
16 - Varane could wear the No.16, made iconic by midfield legends Michael Carrick and Roy Kane during their time at Old Trafford.
22 - With Sergio Romero leaving the Reds this summer the No.22 will be vacated. Previously donned by Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
24 - Timothy Fosu-Mensah's departure in January means the No.24 is now up for grabs again.
It's most associated with Darren Fletcher at Old Trafford, but Wes Brown, David Beckham and Paul Scholes all had stints in the shirt.
25 - The No.25 was last worn by United loanee Odion Ighalo. Previously worn by Ecuadorian wideman Antonio Valencia.
32 - No.32 has been free for four years now. Was once made famous by Argentine frontman Carlos Tevez.
The majority of numbers 40 and above are also available.
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If Juan Mata and Lee Grant both fail to agree new contracts with United then they could vacate No.8 and No.13 respectively.
Varane has worn No.2, No.4, No.5, No.14 and No.19 throughout his career but they are all occupied by current United players.
