It seems like just a matter of time before Manchester United announce the signing of French World Cup winner Raphaël Varane from Real Madrid.

The Old Trafford club have actually taken the unusual step of announcing that they’ve reached an agreement with the La Liga giants regarding a fee for the centre-back (Source: ManUtd.com).

I think the move could be a real difference maker and make Man United genuine Premier League title contenders for the up and coming season.

If you look at recent title winners, they’ve been boosted by key defensive signings.

Manchester City were strengthened by bringing in Emerson in 2017and then last term Ruben Dias came in and helped them reclaim top spot. At Liverpool, Virgil Van Dijk was probably the signing that gave the Reds an edge over their main rivals as they won the crown in 2020!

Varane has all the attributes and experience needed to make a similar impact for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men.

Raphaël offers plenty in terms of winning mentality. As well as helping Les Bleus to their World Cup glory in 2018, he has won countless medals with Madrid including league triumphs and Champions League trophies.

He would also compliment Harry Maguire at the back. Varane would offer more consistency, pace and intelligence. I feel his presence in the backline would benefit Maguire and get more out of the England international. The French internationalist prefers playing on the right side and that would suit Harry’s style as he likes to play on the left.

Manchester United have really missed having a top, top central defence partnership. I think Varane and Maguire could become the cornerstone that pushes United into genuine contenders.

As well as being pacey, Varane is also able to remain calm in possession and take the ball out of the back. He doesn’t mind getting into physical battles either.

With Real Madrid last term, Varane was very accomplished with the ball at his feet – enjoying a passing success rate of over 89%. Only Casemiro won more aerial battles at the Bernabeu and no player bettered the French internationalist when it came to making all important clearances (Stats from Whoscored).

Some pundits are stating that Raphaël might need time to adapt to his new surroundings, the rigours of the English game and all that! But in truth, I don’t think he’ll need a great deal of time at all. This is a very experienced central defender. In Spain last year, defenders had to deal with more direct crosses than their counterparts did in England’s top flight. If any French city is comparable in terms of weather to Manchester then it’s Varane’s old hometown of Lille, so that won’t concern him either.

He’ll be arriving at Man United as a twenty-eight year old. That should be a player coming in at his peak. He has spent years learning his trade alongside Pepe, Sergio Ramos and Ricardo Carvalho… I really don’t think this move will phase him in any way!

Sir Alex Ferguson was desperate to make the French defender one of his last signings at Old Trafford. The legendary boss believed Raphaël had all the tools needed to become a world-class star and was gutted he missed out on his signature:

“I hurtled down on the train from Euston to Lille to sign the young French defender Raphael Varane,” 

“David Gill was getting into the finer points of the contract with Lens when Zinedine Zidane got wind of this and somehow scooped him up for Real Madrid from under our noses.”

Via Manchester Evening News

Some might see it as fate if Fergie’s star pupil Solskjaer manages bring in one of Sir Alex’s last targets and then that player came in and brought back some glory to Old Trafford.

Posted on July 30th, 2021 by scott
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