Raphael Varane

Martial: Varane will fit United perfectly

Tuesday 17 August 2021 07:00

Anthony Martial is excited for "big-time player" Raphael Varane to make his Manchester United debut and thinks his fellow Frenchman will settle in immediately at Old Trafford.

Varane was unveiled as a United player on the pitch at the Theatre of Dreams before Saturday's brilliant 5-1 win against Leeds United.

Martial, who has played and trained with Varane regularly over the last half a decade for the France national team, believes the centre-back will add considerable quality to the United ranks.

 
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Watch Varane's first interview as a Red!

Raphael cuts a hugely impressive and articulate figure in his exclusive first interview at United...

Talking about our summer transfer business - with Jadon Sancho the other major signing in the last few weeks - Martial told us "these are two really great players."

"Varane, I know already, of course," he continued. "And the skillset he has, I know he will bring a lot to our team, in addition to his long experience, so we are all really delighted with these two new players we have."

 

It's the amount of elite-level experience Varane has that is inevitable in the discussion around his arrival. It is well documented now that the 28-year-old is a World Cup-winner and has won the Champions League four times.

"Varane is a big-time player," Martial said of his new team-mate, a fresh addition to United's French contingent which includes Martial and Paul Pogba at first-team level.

"I don't think he [Varane] will need too much time to adapt to his new environment, but I'm there for him for whatever little help or advice he may need."

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"He has all his experience, - he's a player who has won a lot during the time of his career at Real Madrid and also in the French national team, so I am sure he will bring all his powers, as he really is a top player and I know things are going to go well for him here at United."

United fans will be hoping to see some link-up between what could be a French spine to the team featuring Varane, Pogba and Martial. They know each other well and it may not be long before we see them play together for Les Rouges, rather than Les Bleus.

Martial returned from a five-month injury in our final game of pre-season before coming on as a substitute against Leeds, while Varane joined training on Monday after completing his move at the weekend.

Evra celebrates winning the Premier League with fellow countrymen Mikael Silvestre and Louis Saha.

As well established as Varane's trophy haul is United's history with French players, the door opened by Eric Cantona who made Manchester his own before Patrice Evra followed most successfully in the 2000s.

Those two figures - Evra having played for the same youth club as Martial - led the way for the trio of first-team players now. If they can match the level of success enjoyed by Cantona and Evra, they'll become legends too.

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