Manchester United have this evening confirmed that Raphael Varane is expected to be sidelined for around a month with a hamstring injury.
Varane, who missed three matches before returning and starring in the victory against Spurs, had to be replaced in the first-half of the Champions League tie against Atalanta on Tuesday night.
The centre-back couldn’t continue after he went down in the 37th minute of last night’s tie, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer replacing Varane with Mason Greenwood as they trailed at the time.
Varane has shown the quality and stability that he can bring to a sloppy United defensive line since joining, but the former Real Madrid stalwart has had his momentum cut short by injury once again.
The Red Devils parted with a considerable fee to land Varane this summer, shelling out an initial £34m in a deal worth a potential £42m, per BBC Sport.
Varane will now be unable to help the Red Devils at a key time, as the pressure continues to mount on Solskjaer ahead of a very difficult run of fixtures.
United are tasked with avoiding a repeat of the embarrassment they suffered at the hands of Liverpool when they face cross-town rivals Manchester City this weekend.
The two-week international break then follows, which will be a blessing in disguise for the Manchester outfit in this situation as it means less matches without Varane.
United will then return from the international break to face Watford on 20 November, before battling against Villarreal three days later and then facing the tough task of rivals Chelsea on 28 November.
The Red Devils also face another rival in Arsenal on 2 December, so it looks like they’re resigned to missing Varane for some incredibly important fixtures.
Solskjaer will have to rely on the likes of Harry Maguire, Victor Lindelof and Eric Bailly. Losing Varane to another injury means that the Norwegian will have to field all of his most experienced centre-backs should he continue to start with three in an effort to build some much-needed stability.