When Sir Jim Ratcliffe takes over as Manchester United’s football operations manager, he will have to make a significant choice about Casemiro and Raphael Varane’s futures.

Even though Casemiro and Varane were 28 and 30, respectively, when they arrived at Old Trafford on lucrative, long-term contracts, United nonetheless paid Real Madrid a total of £112 million for them.

Both played key roles in Erik ten Hag’s remarkable debut season at the team, but they have underperformed this year and face uncertain futures when the January transfer window opens.

At the beginning of the season, Casemiro appeared out of shape and unfit, and his hamstring injury won’t heal until after Christmas. The Brazilian has been connected to a January relocation to Saudi Arabia. His future will probably be discussed in the summer, even if he stays.

Meanwhile, Varane has become so unpopular with Ten Hag that their relationship has all but collapsed. After Varane was benched for the Manchester derby last month, there is thought to have been a candid discussion. Since then, the Frenchman has only appeared as a substitute three times.

The 30-year-old reportedly feels cheated because Jonny Evans was picked before him and that, when Evans was hurt two weeks ago against Luton, Victor Lindelof was chosen to play with Harry Maguire.

“Maguire took his chance when Varane was absent,” Ten Hag said to beIN Sports on Thursday. “When the moment is there, you take it and the other has to fight back.”

Varane has indicated interest in joining Bayern Munich in a £25 million deal in January, although it is unlikely that the German team could pay his £340,000 per week salary. United has talked about finding replacements, but because Ratcliffe owns the French team, signing Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo might present a conflict of interest.