Raphael Varane at Manchester United

by Kenneth Abela

“The save of the season?” Could be. With Lewandowski through on goal, and the ball beating De Gea, the long legs of one Raphaël Xavier Varane kept the ball from rolling into the net. It would have been an

“Tall and athletic, there’s a presence about Varane, an understated authority,” writes Spanish football expert Sid Lowe. “But not exactly the loudest in the dressing room, nor immediately charismatic or flamboyant, was on the 29th of August 2021 that Raphaël Xavier Varane made his competition debut for the Red Devils. Our opponents were Wolverhampton Wanderers. He was 28 years and 126 days old. Prior to his move to United, he had joined Real Madrid from Racing Club de Lens. With Real, he won multiple Champions League titles and scored eight goals and provided five assists. He is considered as one of the best defenders of his generation, due to his defensive prowess and speed.

Asked why he had opted to leave Real Madrid and join the Reds, the centre-back had replied, “I came here because I wanted new emotions and it was exactly what I expected and bigger”.

Last season, for Manchester United, Varane made 22 Premier League appearances. He also managed to notch his first goal for United in his debut season, volleying home from a corner in our comfortable 3-0 win over Brentford in May. He also provided one assist.

Boss Ten Hag tends to selection rotate Varane more than other players, it being believed that he is on the “fragile side”. In fact since joining United, Varane has had his fair share of injuries, notably knocks (out for 5 weeks in 2022), hamstring (4 weeks in 2022), an ankle injury (3 weeks in 2022) and groin injuries (9 weeks in 2021). As a matter of fact, although the Manchester United defender made his 50th appearance for the Reds in the 2-2 Europa League draw with Barcelona, this had been only his second game for the club in the Europa League. He had missed three matches in the competition through injury this season and was rested for the other two group-stage clashes. As a result, his presence in Europe had been missed this campaign, but against Barcelona, he helped keep one of the most dangerous strikers on the planet off the score sheet.

One of the matches that Raphael had played in the Europa League was in United’s win over FC Sheriff. After the game, the United Manager lauded Varane’s leadership qualities. “The reason (for another clean sheet) is we were good in possession and we defended very well,” Ten Hag told MUTV. “With Raphael Varane there as the leader, he puts everyone in the right position, he fits really good together with Licha Martinez and also the two full-backs did their job really good”.

Having played for two years with the French U-21 side, Varane subsequently played in four major tournaments since his first appearance in 2013 for the senior Les Bleus, registering 93 caps, five goals and 36 clean sheets. He is one of the most decorated players in world football and cemented his status as one of the greatest centre-backs by lifting the World Cup in 2018 in Russia. The 2022 World Cup Final, in which he was a runner-up in that thrilling showpiece defeat to Argentina, was Varane’s last appearance for his country. Although reports had suggested that Varane was in line to take the captaincy armband permanently following Hugo Lloris’ retirement, Varane shocked the football world by announcing he had retired from international football with France. The announcement marked the end of his 10 year run with the national team. Varane said to Canal+ via MEN: “I gave everything, physically and mentally. But the very highest level is like a washing machine, you play all the time and you never stop. We have overloaded schedules and play non-stop. Right now, feel like I’m suffocating and that [Varane] the player is gobbling up [Varane] the man.”

Former France winger Jerome Rothen has labelled the decision a “disaster” as he insisted Varane had a duty to play for Les Bleus.“I think that at this age and when you play in a club that allows you to be at a very high level, you have a duty. It is to bring your talent to your country. It is a disaster,” Rothen told AS. “You have a long history, congratulations! He won the most beautiful of competitions, the World Cup in 2018. We saw all his contribution to the last World Cup. There was scepticism because he was coming off an injury, but he performed very well.”

The retirement is of course good news for the Red Devils. With injuries having been a prevailing issue throughout his career, now, playing just at club level significantly reduces the risks as he will have adequate time to rest in between United’s hectic schedule.

Varane could have actually become a United player in 2011. Sir Alex Ferguson was then looking for a long-term replacement for Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, and according to his book, was very interested in a young Varane. Our legendary boss personally got involved in the negotiations. However Real Madrid’s new sporting director Zinedine

Zidane stepped in and Varane joined the Bernabeu club in late June 2011, starting a 10-year association in which he was, largely, a fulcrum in one of the Spanish club’s most storied sides.

There is no doubt that our Number 19 is happy as a Red, says Varane, “I love playing, and I was saying the very same thing just the other day to Casemiro. There’s something really special going on here, a real buzz about the place and emotions are running high. I’m really glad that I’ve integrated into the team and to my life over here so well.”