Manchester United told why Napoli's Kim Min-jae can replace Raphael Varane

Former Liverpool and England midfielder John Barnes believes Napoli centre-back Kim Min-jae would be a perfect long-term replacement for Raphael Varane at Manchester United.

United, who will discover their fixture list for the 2023/24 Premier League campaign at 9am on Thursday morning, have been heavily linked with signing the South Korea international in recent weeks. The Reds plan to strengthen their centre-back options in this summer's transfer window, but that is only likely once they have offloaded a player in that position.

Uncertainty surrounds the futures of Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire after they failed to secure as much game time as they would have liked this season. The former, however, did play a key role towards the end of the season because of Lisandro Martinez's season-ending injury.

It means Maguire could be the more likely candidate to leave Old Trafford this summer, paving the way for a new centre-back to come in. And for Barnes, Napoli star Kim would be the ideal candidate, outlining how he could become Varane's successor and Martinez's future centre-back partner.

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"A move for Kim Min-Jae would be great for United as Varane isn't going to be around forever," Barns told MyBettingSites. "Also it hasn't quite worked out for Harry Maguire so they will be looking to find a long-term partner for Lisandro Martinez.

"Kim is aggressive, he's strong and he's done well at Napoli so that would be a very good signing.

"You have to think short, medium and long term and Varane isn't going to be around forever so for the future he would be a very good signing."

Kim is believed to have a €50million release clause in