The former Real Madrid centre-back came off injured in the first half of France's Nations League final victory over Spain on Sunday.
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In a major blow, Manchester United have announced that their new signing Raphael Varane will be out for a “few weeks” after sustaining a groin injury while playing for France. The former Real Madrid centre-back came off injured in the first half of France’s Nations League final victory over Spain on Sunday. The match saw France overcome Spain with a 2-1 victory to win the second edition of the UEFA competition following goals from forwards Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe. It marked the latest trophy in Varane’s glittering career, with Reds team-mates Paul Pogba and Anthony Martial also part of the successful side.
Manchester United later released an update on the 28-year-old defender situation through a statement, which read, “Raphael Varane sustained a groin muscle injury in the UEFA Nations League final and has commenced rehabilitation at the club. He will be out for a few weeks.”
After signing from Real Madrid in the summer, Varane hardly took any time to settle down at Old Trafford. He has quickly formed a solid partnership with Harry Maguire at the heart of the defence. However, the latest injury to Varane comes at a bad time for United as they enter a tough set of fixtures in both league and the Champions League in the coming weeks.
Varane is expected to miss Saturday’s trip to Leicester City in the Premier League, and could potentially also miss the midweek visit of the Italian side Atalanta in the Champions League and the meeting with Liverpool at Old Trafford on October 24. What is more worrying for the club is that captain Harry Maguire is also a fitness doubt for the game against his old side Leicester.
Manchester United legend Bryan Robson has urged the fans to not fear the tough fixture schedule in the coming weeks. United are at Leicester City when the Premier League resumes this weekend before they also play the likes of Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City. “You know, things are not going too bad,” he told club media. “We’ve been beaten in one Premier League game. We haven’t been convincing in our performances but we’re getting results.
“Now I think everybody is sort of jumping on the bandwagon that this isn’t good enough because of some of the signings we’ve made and the fixture list which is coming up in October. For me, just because we’re playing the best teams doesn’t mean we’re not going to win. I think some of our fans have got it into their heads that we’re automatically going to get beaten when we play Liverpool and City.
“No, we’re not. We proved that last year, when we did really well against some of the top teams. So these players will raise their games when they’re playing the best teams. I’m sure of that. It’s so early on in the season and we’re two points off the top. So, at this stage, Ole has still got a bit of work to do to get cohesion within the team because we haven’t, apart from the Leeds game, just murdered any team on the pitch.
“But it’s not easy doing that when the signings are first starting and the interruptions with internationals and those sort of things. We’re out of the Carabao Cup and got beaten by Young Boys and so everybody is having a question mark but we’ve got to believe in the squad. Marcus Rashford is coming back and Edinson Cavani missed the first few games and has come back. I think the attacking options are brilliant at this moment in time.”
