Manchester United defender Raphael Varane is progressing well on international duty with France, says manager Didier Deschamps.
Varane suffered injury almost a month ago on October 22 in Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea.
The centre-back tearfully left the pitch, fearing his World Cup dream was over.
The good news was his hamstring injury was not serious enough to cost him a place at the tournament, although he did miss the subsequent six games for Manchester United.
Deschamps wants Varane to start
Varane, 29, is aiming to play in his third World Cup tournament and France are depending on him, especially with Presnel Kimpembe recently suffering an injury which ruled him out of the squad.
Varane is moving forwards with his recovery and is already with the France squad.
Manager Didier Deschamps is optimistic, giving a positive update and also pledging not to take any chances.
He has set an ambitious target, for Varane to play in France’s first match in Australia on November 22, exactly one month on from his injury.
Deschamps told The Athletic: “He is training with the ball and doing well. He still has steps to take in the next few days. He is fine. He is in good spirits.
“We are not going to cut corners. He is supposed to be available for the first game.”
The manager’s words are largely positive, especially with his pledge not to take any shortcuts.
But it would be a little better if he were being held out until the second game, just to be sure, but we will have to trust Deschamps on this.
France have ambitions to go all the way to the final, and ideally this would mean he is able to sit out at least one of the three group games.
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