Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas has confirmed that Manchester United right-back Rafael will move to the French club.

The Brazilian was overlooked by Louis van Gaal last season, making just ten appearances as Antonio Valencia occupied the first-choice slot at right-back.

Rafael is now set to leave Old Trafford after the club reportedly accepted a £2.1m bid from Lyon for the 25-year-old.

Lyon’s president took to Twitter to announce the right back’s imminent arrival:

@OL @vincentduluc Raphaël est arrivé de Manchester U nous attendons 1 accord de MU sur le transfert : il est de bonne humeur Brésilienne ! — Jean-Michel AULAS (@JM_Aulas) August 3, 2015

Van Gaal, for reasons that remain unknown, doesn’t share the admiration Man United fans have for the defender.

Rafael’s playing style suits United’s ethos of winning games in a full-blooded, attack minded fashion. While at times this approach seems unreliable and dangerous, supporters adore it nonetheless.

His man of the match performance against West Ham United back in September characterised everything you’d want in a right-back; tough tackling, quick on the ball, ruthlessly rampaging up and down the flanks. Despite this, Rafael’s experience and liveliness in that position was ignored by van Gaal, much to the frustration of United fans.

The introduction of Matteo Darmian effectively demoted Rafael to fourth-choice right back at United, so his move to France comes as no surprise. But for a player of Rafael’s quality, the reported transfer fee is far too small in the context of the modern transfer market.