Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has welcomed the imminent arrival of Raphael Varane – but has warned that the French international will need to ‘hit the ground running’ and show his class from the start in order to elevate Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team into genuine title challengers this season.

Varane has reportedly agreed personal terms with both clubs close to announcing the deal is complete.

Parker believes that Varane should improve the defence to the standard required to deliver major honours, though he did stress that it should not be taken for granted.

“I don’t watch him week in and week out, I haven’t seen much apart from the Champions League and European Championships, but I have always been a bit wary of him,” Parker admitted, exclusively on this week’s Talking Devils podcast, which you can watch below. “He’s not physical, I have seen him chase back and get knocked about… I really want to come out and say he’ll make a difference but I do think he’s been led magnificently by Sergio Ramos. I’m hoping I’m wrong with that, because the last thing we want to see is a more expensive version of Victor Lindelof. I am going to need to see him. He’s going to need to hit the crowd running. Fans are going to want to see that.”

In spite of that concern about how Varane may adapt, Parker is definitely convinced of the player’s pedigree.

“Varane has played in big games, he’s played for one of the best international teams, he’s won a hell of a lot,” he said. “Next season is going to be unforgiving, every team is going to want to prove a point, fans are going to be demanding, it will be a very competitive league. Hopefully Varane is going to be able to deal with that, and hopefully he and Maguire will play lots of games together. It makes the job easier for the goalkeeper and full-backs. If they do, then United will have a great chance of delivering something.”