Man United are sweating on the fitness of Raphael Varane after the Frenchman picked up an injury.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is facing an incredibly tough run of games over the next month or so. Manchester United take on a handful of their biggest Premier League rivals, while also battling it out in the Champions League, too.
Well, their task could have just been made even harder. Raphael Varane limped off the field on Sunday evening with an apparent groin injury, as his native France won the Nations League.
Now, it’s being reported by the Manchester Evening News that United will ‘assess the extent’ of the key 28-year-old’s injury this week. Obviously, we’re now just days away from a game against Leicester City, which would be much tougher without Varane available.
The initial prognosis is that it could be anywhere between a one and three-week absence depending on the severity. This means Varane is looking pretty likely to be unavailable for this one, leaving Solskjaer with a gaping hole in his starting line-up.
Factor in Harry Maguire also having issues and missing the last couple of games, suddenly, United are looking pretty threadbare at the back. We have Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly and Phil Jones as our fit, first-team centre-backs. It goes without saying, that’s less than ideal.
Varane’s impact has kind of gone under the radar given the Cristiano Ronaldo signing. However, I’d argue the Frenchman is an even more important addition than the greatest player I’ve ever seen. We’ve been crying out for a leader at the back like him for years and to finally have that is a massive bonus. Fingers crossed we’re not without his abilities for too long.
No doubt we’ll hear more from Solskjaer in his pre-match press conference later in the week.
Who should start in Varane’s place? Let us know your thoughts in the comment box below.
Be the first to comment