Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has said Raphael Varane has held Manchester United in his heart for 10 years as the defender prepares for a possible debut against Southampton.
The France international was introduced to Old Trafford fans ahead of the 5-1 win over Leeds United last week, having signed a four-year contract after Real Madrid agreed to an initial royalty of around $ 34million. pound sterling.
The 28-year-old was wanted by United when he was a rising star at Lens, but he chose to join Madrid in 2011, where he won three La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues among a multitude of honors.
Solskjaer says Varane has conducted himself impressively in training this week ahead of the Southampton game at St Mary’s Stadium on Sunday and believes Varane has achieved an ambition by joining the Red Devils.
“If you’ve been following football for the past 10 years, that’s why we wanted to sign him, which he has done during his career,” the United manager said on Friday.
“It’s no secret we were close when he went to Real Madrid 10 years ago, Sir Alex [Ferguson] was there talking to them.
“His performances on the pitch, his behavior off the pitch tell me he’s a Man United player. I think it’s in his heart since he went to Real Madrid, that he had a little feeling for Man United The Champions League wins, World Cup victory, everything about him is classy, he’s fast, strong, good in the air, he knows how to play with both feet.
“He’s been humble, curious, he asks questions, he doesn’t want to learn by mistake in the game, he wants to learn it on the training ground before entering the field. Everything about him has been impressive. . “
There is also a chance that Edinson Cavani could return to action this weekend, having missed out on the win over Leeds after spending more time away from Manchester for personal reasons.
“Edinson has joined us, Raphael has joined us, so we are getting more and more fit. We have had a very good week. Let’s see who will take the flight to Southampton on Saturday,” said Solskjaer.
“Edinson always looked after himself. He lacks team training but he took care of himself, you can see it. He had different reasons why he was late, there were personal reasons, but his body can tolerate a lot of them, so he [the break] was something that was not physically necessary but for another matter. He’s ready to go. “
David de Gea is expected to continue in goal as Dean Henderson continues his recovery from the coronavirus, with the England goalkeeper not due to resume action before the international break.
Solskjaer confirmed that the club’s message is that every player is doubly vaccinated against COVID-19, although some have not.
“The whole situation around COVID is still unknown and that is what is scary,” he said. “You hear people have it, people less fit than footballers, and no symptoms, and fit footballers [have it] and you get sequelae and side effects, fatigue, so it’s a scary virus.
“As far as Dean is concerned he was tired after training and we had to control him. Now he is much better, he passed all the tests that we had with him and he is training, he is rebuilding himself because he lost a few weeks, he is not yet in full training as a team but it will not be too long.
“They’re not all double-bitten. I am and I encourage guys to get the vaccine, but we can’t force anyone to do it. As far as I know, we want everyone to be double-bitten and that. ‘is gone for them. “
