Do the signings of Raphael Varane and Jadon Sancho make Man Utd serious title contenders?

Rafa Varane looks to be signing for Man United for a fee reported to be somewhere around £43 million and is the club’s latest summer signing after the transfer of Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund was finally sealed after a year-long saga. These two signings are a statement of serious intent from United that they believe can win the Premier League next season, but can they really win the title given Man City’s class and a resurgent Liverpool?

The first thing you’d have to say is to credit Solskjaer for his activity in the transfer market. Since he became United boss in 2018 most of his buys have been excellent, especially Harry Maguire and Aaron Wan Bissaka. These two signings look to be a great bit of business: Varane is an experienced center half in the prime of his career who’s won it all with Real Madrid whilst Sancho is an exciting proven talent who at 21 is only going to get better in the future. Whether they help United win the title or not, these signings will certainly take Man United to the next level and finally win a trophy.

Varane brings class and composure to the Reds defence

The signing of Varane is more important than that of Sancho. Centre-back has been a problem at United for years, so much so that Jose Mourinho even played Ander Herrera there once! The signing of Maguire partially corrected those problems as United finally had a leadership presence at the back which they had badly lacked. A few mistakes apart, Maguire’s been one of Man Utd’s best players ever since he signed. The problem has been who has lined up alongside him. None of Victor Lindelof, Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe have ever convinced in that role. Lindelof struggles with physicality, Bailly is injured most of the time and Tuanzebe is too inexperienced. Varane has the strength, physicality, pace and ball skills to be the perfect match for Maguire’s more rugged attributes. Varane also brings a calmness to the defense, which looked nervy at times last season. Varane’s pace compensates for the lack of speed Maguire has. With Wan-Bissaka and Luke Shaw being the full-backs, United look to have a very solid defense which certainly makes them more likely to win the title, if not the favorites.

Sancho can help fire the Reds to the title

Sancho is also an excellent signing, though United already have quite a few attacking options. Sancho’s ability to dribble and trick his way past his man adds a bit of variety to United’s attack and he can bring the creativity to support Bruno Fernandes. He could form part of a youthful, deadly attacking trident along with Mason Greenwood and Marcus Rashford which is sure to deliver plenty of goals.

However, despite United’s first 11 suddenly looking incredibly strong on paper, their squad depth is not great, especially in defense. The defense of Telles, Williams, Bailly and Lindelof is nowhere near as strong as the regular back four. United definitely do not possess the squad depth of Liverpool or Man City. There is also a goalkeeping situation to resolve, with neither Henderson nor De Gea certain to be the club’s number one next season.

The signings of Varane and Sancho have definitely moved United closer to being champions again but over a long, hard season their lack of squad depth may ultimately cause them to just lose out, though they should be able to at least win a trophy and progress further than the group stages of the Champions League.