QPR bolster midfield with Varane capture – Signing Monday, 5th Aug 2024 08:14 by Clive Whittingham QPR have finally completed the protracted signing of Jonathan Varane, a French midfielder from Sporting Gijon in Spain. FactsJonathan Varane is a 22-year-old central midfielder from the French city of Lille (revolution, snails, Eurostar), with Martiniquais heritage through his father. He’s the half brother of Raphael Varane, the French international of 93 caps standing, and like his older sibling he initially came through the ranks at Lens. He joined the academy there when he was just seven years old and progressed through to a first team contract in May 2021 and a first team debut in a 3-2 defeat to Nantes in Ligue 1 in December 2021 – he was subbed on in the second minute of stoppage time. He spent the second half of that campaign on loan in the division below at Rodez, contributing six appearances to their successful battle against relegation. In the summer of 2022 he moved to Spanish La Liga side Sporting Gijon (bulls, paella, Estrella). Starting initially for their B Team, he came through to make a first team debut in January 2023 in a 2-0n cup win against Rayo Vallecano. The arrival of Miguel Ángel Ramírez as manager boosted his first team prospects and he’s since clocked up 17 starts and 26 sub appearances. He has signed a contract of indeterminate length at Loftus Road for a fee West London Sport are reporting is an initial £825k up front with further add ons to potentially come. Analysis @Greg_SpiresDefensive Attributes Varane plays with a ‘defend-first’ mindset, which would make sense as to why he’s caught the eye as a Cifuentes type of player. He drops in to defend the box instinctively, often positioning himself well to be able to spring out and close attackers on the edge of the box or leap to head the ball clear. Speaking of heading, he’s a presence in both boxes and has the ability to judge the ball well and generally times his jump well to win the ball aerially. The statistics back it up too.  Varane’s defensive numbers are elite, but he’s showed his limitations in the final third.  Aerial duel data at the bottom is highly encouraging, often engaging in duels and winning 64.9% of them. Another big man added to the Cifuentes Project. He loves a tackle and isn’t afraid to get stuck in with slide tackles and doing the ‘dirty work’. The one thing I’d love to see him improve defensively is the type of fouls he gives away. Players give away fouls, that’s a normal part of the game, but when the majority of them are highly preventable and almost cynical, that’s a problem. Decisions are often given against him when using his arms to get across a defender, sometimes being a tad overly aggressive in his press and perhaps using his arms to slow himself down as he reaches the point of contact. I’m all for cynical fouls late on but we don’t need him giving them away from the first whistle. It’s not really a style of play, but he often uses his arms to get away from enclosing defenders or to try and keep up with attackers and that just won’t slide in this league (not with this level of refereeing). It’s quite interesting because his tall, gangly frame is so advantageous at times (driving with the ball away from danger, lunging for tackles etc.) but it can also be a hindrance if you can’t use it properly (pulling players and using your arms as a defence mechanism). If he can develop and alter the way that he utilises his body when he defends, he could develop into a quality defensive midfielder in the Championship. Physicality He showed an eye-catching level of agility when in-possession, getting out of tighter spots and getting away from defenders to get a pass off. Varane’s long legs are a major asset, enabling him to entrap attackers in his web and win the ball back. There were many occasions last season where he used his body extremely well to block off the attacker and steal the ball from them, timing the challenge well enough to avoid giving away a foul too. His recovery speed is superb, enabling him to cover wider areas and sprint vertically with ease and I think this will be a major asset to support a slower midfield partner in Field or Colback. He isn’t the most active player in out-of-possession phases, he’s jogging around doing a little bit here and there, but boy does he pick his moments. Whenever a player makes a movement in his vicinity or the ball comes within a few metres, he’s VERY explosive. So sharp to engage on the ball and clamp the attacker, which results in forcing the opposition backwards or into areas that the team structure desires. However, and I’m in danger of repeating myself, he needs to learn WHEN to utilise that explosiveness and how to slow himself down near the point of contact to prevent himself running straight through players. He's committing 2.77 fouls per 90 and if he’s placed alongside Colback and Field at some point this season, it’ll resemble a Royal Rumble in midfield rather than a football match. Like shooting yellow cards in a barrel. That being said, I hope he can learn to refine his game around the incredible athleticism, agility, change of direction and explosiveness that he possesses because those attributes are what Premier League clubs look for in new signings and it’ll elevate his game significantly if he can work on that situational intelligence and body movements. In Possession When he’s on the ball, he looks very comfortable and has the ability to pass and receive with both feet, which goes some way to reducing the angle bias of having lots of left-footed midfielders. I don’t claim to have seen an awful lot of him, but he reminds me a bit of Dixon-Bonner in a way. Quite silky in-possession, composed and plays with his head up, looking to play forward. Varane has the intelligence to wait for a player to press him before releasing his pass, in order to shift the opposition’s space and perhaps open up opportunities further along. He showed an ability to make good decisions on the ball, making simple passes and rarely playing ‘hopeful’ passes that can be overturned. When on the ball, he occasionally lacked awareness of oncoming pressure from behind or besides him, which led to him being dispossessed. Couple this with his tendency to use his arms to protect himself, this could be an issue with ball retention and recycling possession at pace. I think with some more communication from teammates and a bit more scanning, he’d be able to react quicker to the pressure and use his natural athleticism to break free – as we’ve already seen. Conclusion Varane looks a classy operator on the ball, who can use both feet well and be a really effective disruptor of opposition attacks. Hoping he can refine some of his awareness on the ball and tailor his game to reduce the number of fouls he commits. If he can begin to work on those, and I have confidence that we have the coaching staff to make it happen, then he’ll be a major asset in the Championship. Reaction“I think for my career this is a good step and I am excited to meet my new team-mates, join the group and start with the club. I know the style of QPR and I think for me it is a good move to continue my career here. I like to defend, I like winning balls, giving passes and progressing with the ball on the ground. I think the Championship will be very good for me. I am going to give 100% for the club, my team-mates and the coach. I want to complete the objectives of the club and I will give all I can to do it. This is a dream for me so I can’t wait.” - Jonathan Varane OpinionSaturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Brighton means QPR go into the new season without scoring a goal in their final four summer matches – Spurs, Reading, Brighton and a behind-closed-doors game with Fulham. Michy Fret and Zan Celar were both willing runners against a talented Albion team, but without the departed Chris Willock and the injured Ilias Chair QPR created the square root of nothing for their forwards. Without Chair, in particular, this team will always have problems in that regard. Last season he led on goals, expected goals, assists, expected assists, progressive passes, progressive carries, carries into the penalty box and basically every other attacking metric you can think of in the modern game. The back injury that looks set to keep him out of the opening games is… concerning. But those who’ve stuck up for Lyndon Dykes down the years will tell you that, even with Chair in the team, chance creation for the strikers is not a strong suit of this QPR team. So it is perhaps surprising that we’ve spent quite as long as we have, and a fair chunk of money by recent standards, adding Jonathan Varane to the line-up – ostensibly another defensive midfielder. Perhaps this is a case of one problem at a time. We’ve long said we’re easily bullied as a team, and lack physicality. Adding height and strength seems to have been a real priority over the last six months, and the side was all the better for the addition of Isaac Hayden who feels like quite a similar player to Varane but obviously earning money we can’t afford to pay permanently. Jack Colback will be 35 in a couple of months time, and really looked it against an admittedly very good Brighton side on Saturday. Sam Field has time on his side, but is still too cautious in his play. The openalty which won the Brighton game originated, several steps back down the line, through Field turning down the opportunity to play a risky forward pass out to the left flank, and instead turning it back inside again to a defence which, on that occasion, eventually got itself into a muddle and a penalty conceded. Field was getting better in the attacking part of the game towards the end of last season, and contributed some important goals, but that’s long overdue and he was back to too much backwards and sideways stuff at the weekend. It’s why the team often looks better with Elijah Dixon Bonner in it – somebody who demands the ball and wants to progress it forward when he does have it. If Varane can be both that physical, aggressive central midfielder, but also take the ball ‘on the half turn’ as the trendies like to put it, and progress us up the field better than our current crop, well then maybe he’ll make more of a difference to the more obvious problems at the top end than it might first appear. If you enjoy LoftforWords, please consider supporting the site through a subscription to our Patreon or tip us via our PayPal account loftforwords@yahoo.co.uk. The Twitter @loftforwords, @greg_spires Photo by Mutsu Kawamori/AFLO - via Reuters Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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