Manchester United head coach Erik ten Hag knows that he may be forced to dip back into the transfer market in January to solve his issues at the back after watching a defensive injury crisis unfold. The Dutchman has been left helpless as four players were ruled out with injury for their clash with Brentford at Old Trafford, leaving him down to the bare bones when he could not afford to be left short.
Prior to their clash with the Bees, Raphael Varane suffered his latest injury problem and the Frenchman was ruled out for the game, forcing Ten Hag to turn to a centre-back pairing of Harry Maguire and a 35-year-old Jonny Evans.
Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia had already been ruled out since the start of the season, with Ten Hag rushing through a deal to sign Sergio Reguilon on loan from Tottenham on deadline day. However, the Spaniard has since been sidelined – leaving United extremely short at the back.
Diogo Dalot has been used there, while loan arrival Sofyan Amrabat – primarily a central midfielder – has deputised at left-back in recent matches. In addition to their left-back problems, Lisandro Martinez has been ruled out and Aaron Wan-Bissaka is unavailable. That was before Varane was ruled out, as Ten Hag revealed he had picked up a ‘minor’ problem during the week.
“He [Varane] had a little problem,” Ten Hag told Sky Sports. “If there had been two or three more days [between matches], he could have played, but there it was too short.”
For a team in United’s current state, it is hardly ideal to lose any player to injury – and that is before considering they have lost four out of seven games this season. They need players of Varane’s quality to help end their poor run of form, but he has been out far too often.
Not only has Ten Hag been left without all members of his favoured backline, the players earmarked as backup are out as well. But with Varane, the issue is becoming increasingly urgent for United to solve. Since his £42million transfer from Real Madrid in September 2021, Varane has made 70 appearances for the club in all competitions and scored twice.
But alongside that, the World Cup winner has missed 38 games through injury. In missing the game against Brentford, it is the 11th separate occasion he has been absent and the 30-year-old has shown little sign of shaking off those injury problems.
United were strongly linked with a move for Benjamin Pavard in January before cooling their interest, and the Frenchman has since signed for Inter Milan. Ten Hag may not be short of targets in that particular position, though, with Bayer Leverkusen’s Edmond Tapsoba and Benfica centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo on the club’s radar in recent months.
Both players were linked when it seemed like Maguire would be leaving for West Ham. However, with their former captain now required to step in, it may be Varane who finds himself sacrificed instead if he cannot prove his fitness for Ten Hag in the coming months.
