Manchester United summer signing Raphael Varane received a rapturous welcome to the capacity Old Trafford crowd ahead of their Premier League opener against Leeds.
The experienced four-time Champions League winner has officially completed a reported £42 million move from Real Madrid after passing a medical at Carrington earlier this week.
And after penning a four-year deal at the club, Varane was presented as a Manchester United player on Saturday afternoon before-kick off. Goosebumps.
✍️ He’s here. It’s signed.
Welcome to Manchester United, welcome to Old Trafford, Raphaël Varane! 👋
Even a hug for @rioferdy5… pic.twitter.com/XCMlSLtvKl
— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) August 14, 2021
Raphael Varane is announced as a Manchester United player! #MUFC pic.twitter.com/QO882ZwSBL
— Dominic Dietrich (@domjdietrich) August 14, 2021
With three La Liga titles to his name, the French centre-back will certainly bring a wealth of experience to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side in the coming months.
The 28-year-old has picked up 79 appearances for France and was, of course, part of France’s World Cup-winning squad in 2018.
Welcome to Manchester, @RaphaelVarane 🙌🔴#MUFC
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 14, 2021
Former Manchester United centre-back Rio Ferdinand is a huge fan of Varane but he also questioned whether the Frenchman will be able to adapt to the quicker and more direct style of play of some Premier League teams.
“He’s got to understand the English game is very different. You’ve got to go to Burnley and places like that,” he said on Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE.
“Sometimes it can be up and at ’em, a different style of football in the Premier League to anything he’s played in before. Can he deal with it? They’re the questions he’s going to get asked.
“Balls getting wrapped around his ear holes, crosses from different angles that he hasn’t seen on a consistent basis in Spain where they play more on the floor, slower football, slower build up.
“So he’s going to be asked to defend in a different way and that’s where he’s going to have to show his real class, can he adapt? That”s the real question.
“I genuinely believe he’s got the tools to do that.”
🗣”I’m sure there are a few games in La Liga he has coasted and that does not happen in the Premier League.”
Danny Mills thinks it might take Raphael Varane a little bit of time to adjust to Premier League football at Manchester United pic.twitter.com/ePpE73IfNR
— Football Daily (@footballdaily) July 27, 2021
This isn’t the first time Mills has expressed concern about whether the centre-back will be able to adjust to life in England’s top tier.
In an interview with talkSPORT, the 44-year-old questioned whether Varane is robust enough for Premier League action.
“If all those other teams [in the Premier League] are getting stronger, they’re more likely to take points off Manchester United as well,” the former Manchester City full-back said.
“Their away record, Manchester United, was superb [last season], wasn’t it? I don’t think that’s going to be the same [in the coming season] with fans back in grounds and everything else that’s happening.
“You know, Varane is a good player, but again we don’t know what he’s gonna be like, how robust he’s gonna be in the Premier League week in, week out.”
Featured Image Credit: BT Sport