Injury nightmare for Man United as Raphael Varane is ruled out for a 'few weeks' with his groin problem... ahead of key games against Leicester, Liverpool, Spurs and City - and with Harry Maguire already out

• Raphael Varane had scans after limping out of France's victory over Spain 
• Manchester United have now ruled the French defender out for a 'few weeks' 
• Varane could now miss a nightmare run of fixtures over the next three weeks 
• Central defensive partner Harry Maguire is still recovering from an ankle injury

Raphael Varane will miss a crucial run of fixtures for Manchester United after the club confirmed he will be out of action for 'a few weeks' with a groin muscle injury.

Varane had scans on Tuesday after limping out of France's victory over Spain in the Nations League final at the weekend. 

United released a statement saying: 'Raphael Varane sustained a groin muscle injury in the UEFA Nations League final and has commenced rehabilitation at the club. He will be out for a few weeks.'

It means that United's new £43million signing could miss a series of fixtures in the space of three weeks that includes Premier League games against Leicester, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City, as well as a Champions League double header with Atalanta.

Varane spent the second half of France's match sat on the bench with an ice pack strapped to his right thigh, and flew back from Milan after the game on a private jet with his United team-mate Paul Pogba.

The Frenchman's injury lay-off could not have come at a worse time for manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer with Varane's central defensive partner Harry Maguire still recovering from an ankle injury that has kept him out of the last two games and England's World Cup qualifiers.

If Maguire fails to recover in time for Saturday's trip to Leicester, Solskjaer is likely to play Eric Bailly alongside Victor Lindelof. 

Fit-again Phil Jones is another option but he has not started a league game for 22 months.

It's understood that Maguire did some light training at Carrington on Monday after missing the last two games, but did not take part in the main session.

Marcus Rashford is also set to be available for the first time this season after declaring that he has recovered from the shoulder injury that required surgery in August.

Rashford, who had an operation to repair a muscle tear in his left shoulder that had been troubling him for almost a year, scored twice on his comeback in a behind-closed-doors game against Blackburn last week.