The Manchester United fans here in the Transfer Tavern are hoping that Jose Mourinho will bring in a decent defensive partner for Eric Bailly in the summer.

It looks likely that Mourinho may be dipping his hand into another old club again this summer, with Real Madrid’s centre-back Raphael Varane said to be on the Portuguese’s radar. Our regular believe that the Red Devils need a first-class centre-back pairing if dreams of winning the Premier League are going to come true in Mourinho’s third season in charge.

If the potentially incoming Frenchman is to arrive at Old Trafford, the barman thinks it will open the door to a couple of players leaving. Indeed, it simply has to, considering the fairly large squad Mourinho currently has at his disposal.

United have not had a recognised defensive partnership since they last won the league in 2013 and the self-proclaimed ‘Special One’ surely knows that, to win a league, they need to lay the foundations at the back. With that in mind, our landlord takes a look at TWO players that may leave if Varane comes in…

Chris Smalling

The England defender has been at United for a long time now but he still has many doubters out there that he has to prove to. Indeed, Smalling still makes the United fans nervous when he is in the team and doesn’t look like he has fully settled into life at United, despite the amount of games he’s played for the club.

With an arrival of Varane’s quality, someone’s got to drop down the pecking order, and that may be Smalling.

Victor Lindelof

Since arriving from Benfica, Lindelof hasn’t taken to the Premier League like Mourinho would have wanted him to. He is slowly starting to show why United spent so much on him last year, but for Mourinho to bring in another defender a year after must mean that the Portuguese boss doesn’t fully trust the Swede yet.

With that in mind, Lindelof may search for a new challenge, as the competition for places heats up a lot more.