This lad stole the show today (before Pogs and Bruno wrestled it back)
Amazing performance - 10/10
19
Season Average Rating
- Appearances
- 29
- Clean sheets
- 6
- Goals
- 1
- Assists
- 1
- Yellow cards
- 1
- Status
This lad stole the show today (before Pogs and Bruno wrestled it back)
Amazing performance - 10/10
That unveiling gave me goose bumps. Can't wait to see him play now!
MOTM
The pitchforks are out for him already. This fanbase is ruthless...
Looked like an absolute boss didn't he? strolled on like he owns the place already. Looked a million dollars, then pulled out a selfie on the centre circle 
Love him already.
Love him already.
Mad that we’ve got Williams doing chores around the groundThe pitchforks are out for him already. This fanbase is ruthless...
Its crazy the lengths players will go nowadays. Have Madrid caved in and given him a better deal yet?
haha this is gold
Time to change that Madrid kit picture
The man robbed of the 2018 Ballon d'Or despite winning World Cup and Champions League is a Red Devil
Best centre-back to join the club since Nemanja Vidic '06.
Name: Raphaël Varane
DOB: April 25th, 1993 in Lille, France
Number of Wikipedia languages of his bio: 67
Number of caps with Real Madrid : 360
Number of caps with France : 78
Best centre-back in the world: Yes
Specs courtesy of @MyOnlySolskjaer
Full Name: Raphaël Xavier Varane
Date of birth: Apr 25, 1993 (28)
Nationality: France
Height: 191cm
Position: Defender - Centre-Back
Foot: Right
Squad Number: TBD
Player agent: CAA Base Ltd
Joined: TBD
Contract expires: TBD
Outfitter: Puma
gotta pay the bills somehow.
This lad stole the show today (before Pogs and Bruno wrestled it back)
Amazing performance - 10/10
Bonjour monsieur Varane.
I didn't know he was this handsome!
Varane with his first introduction video for the club in the official twitter account.
Passing of the torch moment.
That's a BT microphonePassing of the torch moment.
@Nani Nana
Opening post needs update. We now know his squad number, joining date and contract length.
Opening post needs update. We now know his squad number, joining date and contract length.
More like the moment Rio bottles the questionPassing of the torch moment.
Didn't even play and yet still got a higher player rating than James
Looking sharp in training
Looking sharp in training
Jadons dribbling skills is pretty special as well. Nothing new but still awesome to see
"It's difficult for me to do this interview in English but I have to try. I think it's very important to be close to the fans because we have the same objective, we have to fight together"
Love him already! How could you not
Love him already! How could you not
Can't blame him. My heart was wavering when Varane smiled. Just a bit.
Never really noticed before but he is a very handsome fella isn't he?
Looked like an Armani model coming out in his suit for his unveilling
Really smart move that by the club, you can see from his interview how much he appreciated it - and it's made him feel connected to the club already. Ole really does the personal touches well.
No it's not - more like the moment Rio read the room properly and didn't destroy an epic moment. Varane wasn't there for an interview so not sure what BT was expecting from Rio there.
Look at Jones charging in that training video
Keep him away from Varane.
Keep him away from Varane.
The state of the interviewer there. 'How is your English?'... better than yours mate
Some more photos
And I think these two are for the Premier League line-up graphics:
And I think these two are for the Premier League line-up graphics:
This is what we’re getting
Tackling comparison in 2020/21
Pass comparison 2020/21
I think we can see statistically a clear upgrade
stats taken from an article in the FF app
Tackling comparison in 2020/21
| Varane* | Lindelof | Maguire | Bailly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Duels won | 68.0% | 56.8% | 65.7% | 57.8% |
| Aerial duels won | 76.0% | 63.4% | 75.4% | 58.5 |
Pass comparison 2020/21
| Varane* | Lindelof | Maguire | Bailly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pass acc. | 89.6% | 89.8% | 87.3% | 88.3% |
| Long pass acc. | 60.0% | 43.1% | 61.5% | 46.5% |
| Long passes / 90 | 6.2 | 5.0 | 7.3 | 4.2 |
| Succ. long passes / 90 | 3.7 | 2.2 | 4.5 | 2.0 |
I think we can see statistically a clear upgrade
stats taken from an article in the FF app
He will probably be an upgrade in the air, but I don’t think he’ll be an upgrade on the ball. That’s however based on me watching Varane for 10 years and not from % successful passes stats.
I never really paid attention and always thought he looks a bit 'slim' but on closer inspection, he's actually got a decent bit of size on that frame.
Equal or worse than Lindelof?
Equal or worse than Lindelof?
I've watched Varane a long time myself, but I can confidently say that the defensive upgrade will be so huge compared to the small loss in passing from the back.
Varane doesn't find the defence splitting passes that sometimes Lindelof can pull off, but Varane is quite adept at long balls. For a CB looking to shift play to either side, that would be great considering our wing-heavy and pacey attack. Varane is however comfortable enough on the ball to be able to play out safely from the back.
I see a a huge change in our defence coming. Speed, power and aerial prowess.
To add to that for the 2020/21 La Liga season he made 0 errors leading to goal with 0 penalties committed. Not exactly the liability in defense some describe him as. The very impressive areal duels won, with him and Maguire we should be maybe the best in the league at defending crosses.
Oooo thumbs up friend
Oooo french defender friend
Oooo lindelof replacement friend
Oooo french defender friend
Oooo lindelof replacement friend
Imo slightly worse, but he's on the same level as we have today.
There are so many aspects of ball handling, but in the stats presented here, it was focus on long balls. I don't expect him to hit precise long balls in to the penalty box like we saw Lindelof do in the last game against Leeds. When it comes to handling the ball under pressure, I am not sure what to think. Normally the press is less intense in la liga and we will see what happens, probably he will handle it fine. The same with aerials. He is good in the air but personally I do not expect him to be dominant in the air like Maguire. Maguire attacks every ball while Varane challenges less often than any of our CBs (Lindelof goes in to more aerial duels, but he loses slightly more). This might of course be because of the nature of the leagues, and he might change style when he starts to play in the PL and challenge more often because of more opportunities, and to become more physical because of the more physical league. If he can adapt to the physical game and challenge more often in the air, he will have a big impact on our defence. On the ball to build up attacks and create opportunities, probably not.
- Status