£34m star’s difficult Manchester United situation is about to get even worse

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Depending on which member of the Manchester United squad you’re talking about, the impending return of Luke Shaw from a long-term injury absence is either a blessed relief or a cause for concern.

Take Rasmus Hojlund, for instance. How the striker, starved of service in the Premier League so far, could do with some of Luke Shaw’s famously devilish deliveries from the left-hand side. 

But if you’re Raphael Varane, already out of favour and facing an uncertain future under Erik ten Hag, Shaw’s comeback threatens to make an already difficult situation, well, even more so. 

With Tyrell Malacia also closing on a return, Shaw could see action at centre-back, just like he did at many times last season.

What next for Raphael Varane at Manchester United?

Reports of another fall-out with another high-profile member of the Manchester United squad may have been played down in some quarters, but the fact remains that Varane – surely the best ‘pure’ defender in the Red Devils squad – has not started a Premier League game since September.

Ten Hag started Jonny Evans and Harry Maguire ahead of the World Cup winner for tactical reasons in the Manchester derby defeat by City (talkSPORT). And, with Evans out injured, it was Victor Lindelof who partnered a rejuvenated Maguire last time out.

The reasoning, in Ten Hag’s defence, is sound. Varane may be United’s most gifted stopper but he’s also arguably the weakest when it comes to breaking the lines and progressing the play. Two key attributes of a centre-half in a Ten Hag team.

“I actually think he’s playing Maguire and Evans at centre-half because he thinks they’re the two best ball-playing centre-halves,” United legend Paul Scholes told TNT Sport during the Champions League loss at Copenhagen.

A point compounded after Varane gave the ball away in the build up to the Dane’s winner.

Luke Shaw soon to return

Maguire is more comfortable in the Frenchman’s favoured right-sided spot rather on than the left.

Shaw’s return will offer Ten Hag another option for the left-hand centre-back role, further reducing the need for Maguire to shift across and open up a space for Varane again. 

Lisandro Martinez will also be back after Christmas. All the signs, then, suggest that things aren’t about to get any easier for the £34 million signing from Real Madrid.

Reports linking Varane with a move away – he has reservations about a Saudi switch and appears too expensive for Bayern Munich – appear to be more media-driven than genuine. But with Maguire taking his place, with Shaw returning and with Nice’s Jean-Clair Todibo reportedly ‘likely’ to be on his way to Old Trafford, Varane’s days certainly feel numbered.