When is Varane back from injury for Man Utd?
Carlo Garganese
- 1 Dec 2021 19:20 GMT
- 3 min read
Raphael Varane is close to returning to first-team action for Manchester United following his recent injury layoff.
The France international sustained a thigh injury during Man Utd’s 2-2 draw with Atalanta in the Champions League at the start of November.
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He was forced off the pitch in the first half and it was feared he would be missing for several weeks.
However, Man United’s caretaker manager Michael Carrick has revealed that Varane will be back in action in the next week or so.
What did Carrick say about Varane injury return?
"Yeah, Rapha’s rehab is going really well," Carrick told United's official website.
"He’s out on the grass but it won’t be any time this week, by any stretch, it’ll be a little bit further than that, if not even longer. He’s on course [though], which is good."
Varane will thus miss this week’s matches against Arsenal on Thursday and Crystal Palace on Sunday.
However, it seems there is a good chance he will make his return in the Champions League clash against Young Boys next Wednesday, a game in which United have nothing to play for after already booking their place in the knockouts.
It is a timely return for Man Utd and their incoming new manager Ralf Rangnick given the fact that the team have eight matches in December.
Varane has already suffered two injuries this season since joining Man Utd from Real Madrid in a €40 million deal. He missed three games in October with a groin issue.
Varane’s injury history
Varane has a strong history of avoiding injuries throughout his career and especially in the last four years.
Indeed, between the start of 2017/18 and the end of his Real Madrid career in August 2021, he missed only 15 matches because of injury problems. He sat out another five because of illness, including a bout of Covid in April that saw him miss four fixtures.
Earlier in his career, there were signs of greater fragility, including a couple of knee injuries that kept him out for five and two months respectively. He appears to be well over each of those.
Varane’s history, then, suggests that these recent issues are not typical of a player who in the recent past has missed no more than a handful of games per season. Man Utd will be closely monitoring the situation, though.
