Manchester United defender Raphael Varane could return for the FA Cup final against Manchester City.
Varane has been sidelined since hobbling out of United’s 2-2 draw with Sevilla in the first leg of their Europa League quarter-final tie on April 13. He has missed three matches so far and had been a doubt to return this season, with only a vague timeline of “a few weeks” given by the club.
The Frenchman is part of Erik ten Hag’s first-choice centre-back pairing with Lisandro Martinez, who has been ruled out for the season after going down injured in the same match. United were forced to field left-back Luke Shaw alongside Victor Lindelof in the FA Cup semi-final win over Brighton on Sunday, but Ten Hag believes Varane could return before the final on June 3.
Asked by talkSPORT if Varane could be available for the Wembley showpiece, Ten Hag replied: “I think so, yeah. Varane, for the cup final, he can return.”
Varane’s availability would come as a major boost for United, who were missing captain Harry Maguire through suspension on Sunday. Had he been available, Maguire would likely have played alongside Lindelof against Brighton, but his recent form has left a lot to be desired, with huge mistakes coming in both legs against Sevilla.
Ten Hag was delighted with the performances of Lindelof and Shaw at Wembley, with the pair combining to shut out a prolific attack for 120 minutes. “I've talked all season about more than the starting XI,” Ten Hag said.
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“Victor Lindelof, it's so great for him. He's played his games but not as much as he probably expected. Now is his chance and he's taken his chance because he was there.
“Luke showed composure in defending and organising, building up and he played a decent game. This is what we expected. For the rest of the season, some players, we have to rely on them and I talked about it all season.”
United play Tottenham next in the Premier League on Thursday. Spurs are in disarray after the 6-1 thrashing by Newcastle on Sunday prompted chairman Daniel Levy to sack interim boss Cristian Stellini and place Ryan Mason in charge.
Despite the good news on Varane, Ten Hag still has plenty of injuries to contend with. Martinez and Donny van de Beek are all long-term absentees, while Scott McTominay is out with a knock and Alejandro Garnacho is still feeling his way back.
United are fourth in the Premier League, six points ahead of Tottenham with two games in hand. They are level on points with Newcastle, who have played a game more following their commanding win over Spurs on the weekend.
