Erik ten Hag has made his opinion on Raphael Varane extremely clear after his latest centre-back decision at Manchester United.
Manchester United continued to struggle against any team in the top half during a 1-0 loss to Newcastle.
Erik ten Hag’s Reds were poor in every aspect of the game and this gave Newcastle probably one of the easiest wins they’ll get all season.
The only real players to do themselves justice were the centre-half pairing of Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw, along with Kobbie Mainoo who once again was top class.
Ten Hag’s decision to start the English duo in central defence was justified as they were top performers, but it possibly shed light on the status of one man.
Raphael Varane is rock bottom of the pecking order
In recent weeks it’s become quite obvious that Ten Hag no longer wants Raphael Varane at the club. The World Cup-winning centre-half came into the season as a top choice but at Christmas he’s bottom.
Without a doubt the biggest loser from this season to date with Shaw being chosen on Saturday; now Maguire, Shaw, Victor Lindelof and Jonny Evans are all being selected ahead of him.
As a testament to how quickly things change in football, we wrote a similar story last April about Maguire when Shaw started ahead of him. Fast forward to today and Maguire is arguably the top dog in defence.
It’s unclear if there are issues between Varane and Ten Hag or if there are other reasons at play but the defender heralded as a ‘complete package‘ by Toni Kroos surely deserves better.
Will Manchester United sell Raphael Varane?
Although all mentions of conflict have been quashed, it seems unlikely Varane is kept here for the rest of the season to just warm the bench.
He is on a whopping £340k-a-week according to Capology which is far too much for a player not being used.
If United do sell him, expect the wages to be reinvested in a new defender who fits Ten Hag to a T.
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