Raphaël Varane, injured in a thigh, will not play again with Manchester United before the World Cup, his coach Erik Ten Hag announced on Wednesday, casting doubt on the presence of the defender with the Blues while his coach Didier Deschamps had fueled hope on Tuesday .
“He will certainly be unavailable until the World Cup, so he will not play for Manchester United the block” of matches until the start of the competition in Qatar on November 20, the Dutchman said at a press conference before a Europa League meeting. against Tiraspol on Thursday.
In an interview given to AFP on Tuesday, Didier Deschamps was rather optimistic.
“I cannot give an answer today because I do not have all the elements, but the door remains open, explained DD, referring to the cases of Varane and goalkeeper Mike Maignan, also affected.
We will have to see the evolution of their injuries.
There are different stages.
The first, which is essential, is that the player be cured.
Afterwards, you have to assess the athletic condition, with the medical staff and the data you have.
And thirdly, there is competition for the position.
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If he seems rather resistant to the idea of selecting a player who has been absent for a long time and has no rhythm in his legs, Deschamps will do “case for case”, especially when it comes to executives like Paul Pogba or Raphaël Varane.
“For Paul (Pogba), that he has playing time before the competition, as much as possible, I say yes, because he is in deficit compared to the others.
For Raphaël (Varane), it is less problematic in this aspect, because it is a muscle injury, ”he concludes.