Home » Raphael Varane’s arrival at Man United still shrouded by quarantine confusion

Raphael Varane’s arrival at Man United still shrouded by quarantine confusion

by Red Billy

Raphael Varane is expected to arrive in Manchester today but may then have to quarantine before undergoing a medical ahead of completing his transfer from Real Madrid to Manchester United.

According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano:

‘Raphaël Varane update. He’s ready to fly to Manchester today. The Visa issue is finally to be resolved in the next few hours – original plan was to fly earlier this week.

Now: quarantine, medical and then official announcement. Contract [2025] into his agents hands.’

The issue that now remains confused is quarantine. It has been suggested that the 28-year-old will be required to quarantine for five days, but the government has announced changes today to quarantine requirements for people returning from France and Spain.

The new rule comes into effect on Sunday at 4am, which if it applies to Varane, would mean he would be able to attend his medical on Monday if he delayed travelling until Sunday.

If he arrives today, five days’ quarantine would mean that he would not be able to go to Carrington until one day later.

Either way, it would seem that the deal will be completed early next week, leaving the player with just three or four days to train with his teammates ahead of United’s opening Premier League match against Leeds a week on Saturday.

Whether United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will consider that long enough to allow the Frenchman to make his debut could depend on training.

Solskjaer recently admitted he ‘doesn’t have a Scooby-Doo’ (clue) about his returning players’ fitness levels and Varane will be even more of a mystery in that regard.

There is also the issue of learning tactics and formations and forming a sufficient understanding with the rest of the defence.

Overall, it seems unlikely that the World Cup winner will be in the starting line-up on August 14th and it is more likely that fans will, if anything, see a short cameo debut from the substitute’s bench.

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