Man Utd’s Raphael Varane leaves pitch in tears as injury leads to World Cup fears

Less than a month before the commencement of the World Cup, Raphael Varane was hurt during Manchester United’s Premier League game against Chelsea.

With the World Cup less than a month away, Raphael Varane left the pitch sobbing during Manchester United’s Premier League game against Chelsea.

The French international, who was a member of his nation’s successful squad in Russia in 2018, fell after attempting to attack Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of the Blues. Before advancing swiftly down the tunnel, he was spotted having a brief conversation with United manager Erik ten Hag.

Varane has been a consistent presence alongside Lisandro Martinez at the center of Ten Hag’s defense despite having some injury concerns in his first season as a United player and leaving the game early in the most recent Manchester Derby defeat. Before the hour mark, the former Real Madrid player exited the pitch, and Victor Lindelof took his place.

Varane was once again selected for Ten Hag’s starting lineup as the Dutch coach aimed to extend his team’s current unbeaten streak. The clean sheets against Newcastle and Tottenham over the previous week were shared by the World Cup champion and Martinez.

Harry Maguire has already been absent for United, leaving them with few choices in the back. The club captain sustained an injury while representing England on an international level; he had already lost his starting position.

This season, Varane has dealt with concerns about injuries before. In the loss against Manchester City at the beginning of October, he barely played for 40 minutes before being replaced by Lindelof.

If Varane’s injury is a recurrence of the ankle issue that surfaced against the champions, it is unclear at the time of writing. With the problem, he was unable to play in the Europa League victory away to Omonia, but he made a late comeback in United’s Premier League victory over Everton.

Last season, the Frenchman missed a number of games due to various illnesses. He missed nine games in November and December 2021 due to a hamstring injury he sustained in a Champions League match against Atalanta.

Varane is the most recent of a handful of Premier League talents whose World Cup eligibility may now be in doubt. N’Golo Kante and Reece James of Chelsea are both anticipated to miss the competition in Qatar due to setbacks they each experienced in October.

In their World Cup group, France will play Australia, Denmark, and Tunisia. On November 22, they face off against the Socceroos to start their campaign.

Didier Deschamps, the manager of Les Bleus, is already missing N’Golo Kante and may have to start his team in Qatar without Paul Pogba. Varane will now have to wait anxiously over the next several days because the manager has already stated that he will not select any player who is not totally fit for the competition.