Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has praised the club's new centre-back pairing after another important point at Chelsea.
United began the new season with Harry Maguire partnering new signing Lisandro Martinez at the heart of the defence. However, since the club captain has made way for Raphael Varane, results under new manager Erik ten Hag have picked up.
Ten Hag's side earned a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, with Casemiro equalising deep into stoppage time. They will be worried about the injury suffered by Varane, though, with the French international now touch-and-go for November's World Cup after leaving the field in tears.
"It seems to me that it isn't going to be Harry Maguire who comes in now," Ferdinand said on his Five YouTube channel. "It looks like it's going to be [Victor] Lindelof."
Lindelof was chosen to replace Varane at Stamford Bridge, with Maguire not fully recovered from the injury he suffered on international duty in September. Whoever Ten Hag opts for, though, Ferdinand believes the partnership between Martinez and former Real Madrid star Varane will be tough to replace.
"Lindelof is decent, I think he will come in and do a job, it just depends how long he’s being asked to do that job," the pundit explained. The initial expectation is that Varane will be out for between three and four weeks, missing United's next three league games but possibly returning for the World Cup.
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‘Martinez has been top this season but Varane gives us that something different, that speed, that experience and physicality," Ferdinand continued. "I think he could be a huge loss.
"You need them two [Varane and Martinez] back together. We’ve seen straight away that those two together make us a different team, it’s as simple as that."
Back on October 14, Ten Hag confirmed Maguire was close to a return to training after picking up a hamstring injury during England's draw with Germany in the last international break. The manager was non-committal about the extent of Varane's issue in the immediate aftermath of the Chelsea game, preferring to wait for at least 24 hours after the injury.
"It is difficult to say how it is now because it is so soon after the game," the manager said. "We have to wait 24 hours and then we will know what it is. We have all seen he came off but with an injury like this we always have to wait a minimum 24 hours and the medical staff can do their job and can set the diagnosis.
"I can understand, we can all probably understand he would be emotional, but I think he also has to wait. You don't know [how bad it is]. Of course he is experienced, but [the] medical [staff] have to do their job, have to make the assessment and set the right diagnosis, and then from there on can come a conclusion."
