Several weeks after the deal was confirmed by Manchester United, Raphael Varane was finally revealed as the club's third signing of the summer in front of a packed Old Trafford ahead of their opening game of the new Premier League season.
The centre-back arrives from Real Madrid with a massive reputation, having won the Uefa Champions League four times and the Fifa World Cup once.
Varane will be expected to slot right into the starting XI next to Harry Maguire once he's match fit and ready to go - but will the two defenders be compatible?
What can we expect from the Frenchman? What are the strongest links in his game? Will he complement Maguire or will they struggle to find a rhythm together?
Varane is being viewed as one of the best transfers of the summer, and it's easy to see why. A £42 million fee for a world-class defender is a great piece of business, and he is certain to be an upgrade on Victor Lindelof.
The newcomer betters the Swede in a number of key areas, including long pass completion, which is crucial to United's speed and efficiency on the counterattack. Varane completes 83.2 per cent of his long pass attempts, as opposed to 72.3 per cent for Lindelof. (That said, the latter's exquisite assist for Bruno Fernandes in the 5-1 win over Leeds on Saturday shows he's no stranger to a perfectly executed long pass).
BetVictor have crunched the numbers to help us answer these questions, providing us with some of the most important statistics from his game.
Maguire, naturally enough, leads the way in terms of aerial presence, winning 77.5 per cent of his duels in the air, although Varane was not far behind on 75.3 per cent last season. Lindelof lags behind on 65.7, while Eric Bailly is dead last with 61.4.
Varane makes fewer interceptions and clearances than Maguire and Bailly, but he is ahead of Lindelof on both counts. Where he falls short on the 27-year-old is the number of players tackled per 90 mins, where he averages 0.83 per 90, which indicates a more cautious playing style.
This might complement Maguire perfectly, though, as the Englishman's more aggressive style sees him producing 0.88 tackles per 90, as well as more successful pressures per 90 (35.1 per cent vs 31.9 per cent). Who says Varane can't be the Rio to Harry's Vidic?
On top of that, Varane made zero errors leading to a goal last season, whereas Lindelof made two and Maguire made one, a sign of his awareness and sleekness on the pitch.
What we have here in Varane and Maguire are two aerially dominant centre-halves who are both comfortable on the ball, but approach the game in different ways. This could be a match made in heaven for Manchester United.
