Why Raphael Varane Transfer Should Be Priority for Pep Guardiola and Bayern

Bayern Munich may well look unstoppable with a star-studded squad lighting up every competition they've taken part in so far this season, yet there are aspects of this squad that can be improved on.

Pep Guardiola, ever the perfectionist, will undoubtedly be slaving over tactics boards, video analysis and training regimes right about now, but at the end of the day, a dip into the transfer market may be the only solution to his problems. 

Bayern need a new central defender, and it looks as though Real Madrid's Raphael Varane may be the best possible fit for the role.

We have, of course, hardly plucked such a name from thin air. The English press have been linking the player with a move to Bavaria all month, such as the Express (h/t Metro on January 10), for example, suggesting that the Premier League bigwigs may face competition from Germany's biggest club for the Frenchman's signature.

What the Madrid central defender offers above all else is an explosive amount of pace that would fit right in with what Guardiola is looking for in a central defender.

We've all seen numerous examples of Varane making up five or 10 yards on a striker over the course of a single sprint, and it's that ability that would make him perfect for Bayern's uber high defensive line. 

In the Guardiola style of football, the Munich side essentially push their team as high as it can possibly go. Strikers close down goalkeepers, attacking midfielders stand on defenders' toes and the defensive players go no deeper than the halfway line more often than not.

Matthias Schrader/Associated Press

This leaves plenty of space behind Bayern's defence and a plausible risk to counter-attacks if the defence isn't quick enough.

It's why we've seen the Bavarian side often line up with the likes of David Alaba, Philipp Lahm and Rafinha playing as central defenders in a back three, rather than the likes of Dante or even Mehdi Benatia. Although such full-backs don't make for excellent centre-backs, they have more pace than Guardiola's more conventional defenders and that seems to be all that matters.

Another aspect of Varane's game that Guardiola will be devilishly envious of is his superb technical ability and the ease with which he can pass the ball around the back line. 

The Spanish coach is utterly obsessed with finding central, pivoting players within his system. When he first arrived in Munich the summer before last, he spent the entire off-season deciphering just who would play that role in midfield, eventually opting for Thiago Alcantara and Lahm. Yet his defensive pivot is still under consideration.

So far we've seen Jerome Boateng thrive in the role. Along with his natural pace, the German international has a superb range of passing and can quickly spread play from one flank to the next with both feet. Ideally Guardiola would have another player just like him at the heart of the defence, and that is where Varane comes in.

Of course, the German champions are absolutely inundated with talented defenders, and the Bayern board may raise an eyebrow or two should Guardiola go cap in hand looking for a sizeable sum to tempt the Madrid player, yet there simply isn't anyone else like him at the club.

As we've mentioned earlier, Benatia lacks such pace and really hasn't managed to exert himself on Guardiola's first-team plans since arriving at the club. Mostly likely signed as something of a panic buy following the injury to Javi Martinez, it doesn't seem as though the former Roma player is going to step up and become that player for Bayern.

Similarly, Holger Badstuber's return from injury may be welcome news, but the German defender simply isn't what Guardiola is looking for in that position. Strong, gifted and absolutely solid in the air, yet Badstuber will never be that ball-playing, play-making defender that his coach so desperately desires. 

Such problems may seem minuscule at the moment, but as we move towards the business end of the season, they can grow into disasters.

Like a small, unnoticed crack on the windscreen of Guardiola's season, this hole in the manager's defence is just waiting to hit a bump in the road, be it the Champions League or renewed challenges from Wolfsburg and Borussia Dortmund in the Bundesliga, and smash the entire thing to pieces.

Bayern may be sitting pretty at the top of the Bundesliga table at the moment, but behind closed doors, their coach is huffing and puffing. He knows his defence isn't watertight and just how much a player like Varane may solve such a problem. 

@sbienkowski