How Raphaël Varane Fits at Manchester United

How Raphaël Varane Fits at Manchester United! Today I’m taking a look at how Real Madrid and France’s Raphaël Varane could fit into Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Man Utd side after Fabrizio Romano issues the ‘here we go’ on the France internationals move to Man United. Let me know what you think about Raphaël Varane in the comments below! ► WATCH ME LIVE ON TWITCH: http://bit.ly/SMDTwitch Welcome to Statman Dave Clips! This channel features clips of all my best moments across Twitch & YouTube as I talk all things football including tactics, analysis and diving into individual player performances across all European Leagues. Follow me across socials: Twitter: https://twitter.com/statmandave Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/statmandave Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/StatmanDave ► WATCH ME LIVE ON TWITCH: http://bit.ly/SMDTwitch Manchester United have been heavily linked with Raphael Varane, one of the most decorated defenders of the modern era, in recent weeks. Today we’re going to be taking a look at how the Real Madrid defender could fit in and improve Manchester United! The first thing to note about Raphael Varane is that he’s a very physically dominant defender: he is strong, great in the air - winning 74% of his aerials in La Liga last season - and extremely quick. In theory, this should make him a great partner to Harry Maguire whose only notable weakness is his pace on the turn. Maguire doesn’t get beaten for pace half as often as people make out, but it is a flaw in his game and it’s one that Man Utd have to compensate for. If Man Utd were to bring in Varane, it would allow them to play a higher line and control games more often due to the security offered by his recovery pace and elite reading of the game. Whilst the 28 year-old isn’t necessarily seen as a ball-playing defender, he isn’t exactly bad in possession either. Varane completed 12.30 long passes p90 in La Liga last season with a completion rate of 82.6%, putting him in the 87th percentile for volume and 91st for accuracy. Long-range distribution is seen as one of Victor Lindelof’s strengths, but he actually only completes 6.96 long passes p90 with a middling accuracy of 73%. Whether this is down to system or not is debatable, but it does highlight that Varane is comfortable when tasked with a lot of responsibility in-possession. Lindelof is decent with the ball at his feet but he produces occasional moments of brilliance rather than consistently adding value in build-up with passes and carries - so I don’t think Man Utd’s first phase would suffer despite Varane coming in for a player perceived to be more of a ball-player. As well as allowing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to tweak his system, Varane would bring with him a wealth of experience and big-game nous. We saw last season how the quality and mentality of Edinson Cavani elevated the overall level of the side, and it could be a similar situation with Varane. The Frenchman has won 4 Champions League’s, 3 La Liga’s and a World Cup. Man Utd had an average age of 25.5 in the Premier League last season, the third youngest of any side in the competition and the youngest of any side in the top half of the league. The squad is stacked with elite young talents but there aren’t too many peak-age, proven players kicking around. Varane is one of the most proven footballers on the planet, and it’d be unwise to underestimate the intangibles that he brings into the squad. Whilst I would have been tempted to spend on a longer-term signing at the back, Raphael Varane is undoubtedly a great defender. It’s exciting to see Man Utd getting to the point now where they’re replacing good players like Lindelof with great players like Varane, rather than just looking to fill starting spots with good players. Varane is a great stylistic fit for Manchester United and could well improve the side both in and out of possession. Let me know what you think in the comments! #Varane #ManUtd #TransferNews