Manchester United have been handed a boost heading into the resumption of their domestic campaign, as Raphael Varane’s injury update brings positive news after the defender was hauled off during France’s penalty defeat to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup.
The former Real Madrid centre half played in six of France’s seven matches in the tournament despite only just making the trip to Qatar, following his injury in the Red Devils’ clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge back on October 22nd.
An ankle injury in that match saw Varane miss all of United’s subsequent games in the run up to the World Cup.
He also suffered illness while in Qatar, with a virus having made its way around the French camp, telling The Athletic after the match that he “wasn’t well.”
Varane’s luck seemed to be showing no sign of improvement on the injury front when he went down late in extra time in the World Cup Final, shortly before Kylian Mbappe completed his hattrick to take the game to penalties at 3-3.
But according to the Manchester Evening News, the injury is not as bad as first feared, and Varane could be back in action before long.
Varane – along with clubmate Lisandro Martinez – was already scheduled for a week off following international duty, effectively ruling him out if United’s Carabao Cup match against Burnley.
It would have been highly unlikely for either player to be ready for first-team action for the home game against Nottingham Forest on December 27th either.
However there is a good chance that Varane will be back in time for United’s trip to the Molineux, where they take on bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers on New Year’s Eve.
That will be a huge relief for fans, who will no doubt have been worried by Varane’s heavy involvement in the tournament, particularly given his fitness concerns around it.
He has forged a fantastic partnership with summer signing and World Cup winner Martinez, which has been the bedrock of Erik ten Hag’s system.
The hope now will be that once Varane returns to fitness, he maintains it throughout the course of what promises to be a gruelling schedule.
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