Raphael Varane is proving to be a leader on the pitch for Manchester United | OneFootball

Discussions are frequent within the Manchester United fanbase regarding Raphael Varane’s impact on the Erik ten Hag era.

The centre back started the new campaign injured, missing the first few games and taking a while to get back into the starting eleven.

With poor performances from Harry Maguire during the opening matches vs. Brentford and Brighton, the new manager soon changed his prefered options at the back.

Since then, Varane has played a part in every Premier League match, partnering with Lisandro Martinez.

For many fans, he has become a natural leader at the back and has provided some defensive stability to the squad after a shocking season last time around.

Varane made his first start of the season against Liverpool with the Red Devils winning unexpectedly and the French international contributing to the performance defensively.

As per sofascore.com, he produced a 7.1 rating despite conceding one goal in the match.

Other stats include, eight clearances, four tackles and four important ground duels won.

Following on from his first start of the season, he has managed to start all league matches and has provided a consistent 7.0 or above rating excluding Southampton and has been an integral part of Ten Hag’s new revolution.

This is in comparison with Virgil Van Dijk who has been attracting a below 7.0 rating with a 6.4 vs. Fulham being the low point.

The Dutch international has been at the top of his game throughout the past couple of seasons.

It’s clear to see that Varane is settling in nicely after arriving at the club last summer.

Last season would have been disappointing for him after huge success in recent seasons in the Champions League with the Spanish giants.

With the arrival of Martinez in the summer, it was always going to be a difficult choice for the manager, who also has Victor Lindelof and Harry Maguire fighting for the starting position.

However, Varane is currently performing at such a top level that he is keeping the United captain out of the side.

The club now enters a crucial period with Ten Hag expecting to rotate his centre backs as matches get busy before the World Cup.     United Matchday Magazine – the ultimate pre-match experience The Manchester derby. Ten Hag’s men are ready. This is huge.