It has meant there has been no chance for him to form any kind of understanding with Harry Maguire, which has the potential to be United’s centre-back pairing for years to come. At the halfway point of the season they have only partnered each other once in consecutive matches. 

The omens for the centre-backs were not good from the first couple of minutes as Newcastle poured forward and Ryan Fraser slipped through the grasp of Maguire after an error. 

Varane does have the attributes to be a good foil for the United captain, who dominates his area of the pitch verbally and also when he gets on the ball. Varane is elegant on the ball but plays when he has to, while Maguire prides himself on demanding possession. 

The previous match against Newcastle saw the focus on Cristiano Ronaldo’s debut and it largely went unnoticed that Varane was troubled at times that afternoon. When Ronaldo scores two goals and late goals make it 4-1, pointing out mistakes could lead to accusations of being overly critical. 

But Newcastle’s forwards are so awkward for a player like Varane to deal with. Saint-Maximin runs at unpredictable angles in a whirl of wristbands and knee supports. Callum Wilson regularly finds different ways of getting into dangerous positions. Both picked up injuries which eased the workload of United defenders. 

In the second half, Varane was chased down by Saint-Maximin and had nowhere to turn as the crowd roared on the headband-wearing forward. It was only Varane’s cool head that saw him get out of trouble and earn a throw-in for his team. 

At last Ralf Rangnick could not accuse Varane of being in the camp of the whingers among his ranks. The interim United manager did not like the body language of his players when they won against Norwich and while many moaned at Craig Pawson, Varane kept quiet.  

It needed Edinson Cavani to come off the bench at half-time and equalise for United, but it will still be a mistake Varane will be unhappy with, even if he still has not lost a game in a United shirt yet.