Former Manchester United defender Mikael Silvestre believes Varane and Maguire will be able to forge a ‘magical’ partnership together and form a strong defensive line.
The Reds completed the signing of the French World Cup winner this past weekend in a £41m deal, unveiling him on the Old Trafford pitch to a raucous ovation from the home fans before their 5-1 routing of Leeds.
Defender extraordinaire Varane is expected to eventually partner club captain Maguire in the centre of defence, with Solskjaer finally having bolstered that department that’s been lacking for several seasons now.
Silvestre, who made 361 appearances for United between 1999 and 2008, believes that the duo will need time to learn each other’s style but once they combine it will be ‘magical’.
He told MyBettingSites:
“In modern football, it’s so important to have a strong defensive line. Not just in defending and keeping clean sheets, but also when attacking. Every team wants to control the ball and stretch their opponents from the back four, and that is something that Raphaël Varane can do.
“He is going to bring his leadership and experience and playing alongside Harry Maguire will be a great centre-back partnership. It may take a few weeks or months for the two of them to get used to playing alongside each other, so they can learn and understand each other’s style of play and work out what works for the two of them.
“It will take time for the two of them to work together but when it does, I have no doubt that it will be magical.”
Varane started training with his new teammates this week, but wasn’t deemed fit enough to take part in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Burnley on Tuesday, meaning he is most likely to start the Southampton game on the bench.