As Manchester United's supporters paraded a cardboard cutout of Cristiano Ronaldo around the Molineux away end in August last year, another former Real Madrid player prepared to introduce himself to his new set of fans.
After making a rockstar entrance ahead of the season opener against Leeds United and being left on the bench against Southampton at St Mary's the following weekend, Raphael Varane was awarded his United debut against Wolves, following his big-money arrival at Old Trafford from the Spanish capital. He started alongside Harry Maguire in the heart of the defence that afternoon, helping United record a 1-0 win and collect their first clean sheet of the season.
It marked the best possible start that the Frenchman could have wished for on his first outing in United colours. After all, defenders, just as much as goalkeepers, pride themselves on keeping clean sheets.
READ MORE: United are about to show just how much they have improved under Erik ten Hag
That clean sheet at Molineux was one of just eight that United would go on to record in the Premier League last season. It was a massively disappointing tally and one that was made all the worse by the fact that only Leicester City (seven), Norwich City (six), Leeds United (five) and Watford (four) kept fewer in the league last term.
Of the eight clean sheets they did record, five of them were secured when Varane was present. The former Madrid star experienced a stop-start debut campaign in England, regularly being dealt a string of bad luck on the injury front. He ended the campaign with just 29 appearances to his name in all competitions.
This season, however, the 29-year-old is already on course to surpass last season's tally of appearances. Aside from missing three games with a hamstring problem in the run-up to the World Cup and being forced to take up residency on the bench for the season opener against Brighton, he has played in every Premier League fixture, featuring in 11 of United's opening 15 league games.
Although United, who travel to Wolves on Saturday, have kept five clean sheets from the nine league games Varane has started this season, a more in-depth analysis of the statistics, once you study them closely, tells you that United's defensive record with him is, in fact, even greater. When he has been on the pitch this term, the Reds have only conceded four league goals.
He stepped off the bench against Brentford when United were already 4-0 down. He was off the pitch when Manchester City scored their third goal in the 6-3 derby defeat in October, after which he was soon forced off. He stepped off the bench late on against Everton when United were already 2-1 up. The contest was still goalless when he was forced off with the aforementioned hamstring injury against Chelsea, ahead of it finishing 1-1.
Therefore, when you break all of that down, Varane's importance to United's rapid improvement under Erik ten Hag this season cannot be disputed. He has become an indispensable figure and United look far more assured and solid when he is in the heart of the defence.
Without him, however, United have continued to look fragile and somewhat lost at the back. His importance, experience and world-class quality cannot be underestimated.
He has, when fit, had the impact that he was expected to following his big-money arrival from Madrid in August 2021. At the time of his arrival, former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hailed the addition of him to his squad, backing him to become a leader to the rest of the group, something he has undoubtedly become this term.
"I'm absolutely delighted that we have managed to secure one of the best defenders in the world over the last 10 years," said Solskjaer. "Raphael is a proven winner who we have tracked over a long period of time and we know just how much of a dedicated professional he is.
"We have great depth of international defenders and he will add his immense skillset and leadership to that group. He is a unique defender with a rare combination of top-level attributes that I know will rub off on our younger players.
"He has won everything there is to win but I know that he is still determined to succeed, I can't wait to welcome him into the squad."
Had Varane not been as unlucky with injuries last season as he was, he would have displayed the leadership qualities he has shown this season much more often. He failed to get into any kind of rhythm and the Reds suffered as a result.
Last season, the Reds conceded 33 goals in 29 games in all competitions with Varane, compared to the 29 they shipped in 19 games without him. His importance, based on that evidence, as well as this season's, cannot be understated.
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