 RAPHAËL VARANE’S GLITTERING CAREER

by Martin Calleja Urry

Boasting one of football’s most spectacular resumes, Raphaël Varane has won more trophies in 9 years than most clubs will claim in their lifetime. He is arguably one of the best centre-backs in the world, and his partnership with Sergio Ramos is up there with the best ever defensive duos to have graced the football field. Amassing over 400 appearances for club and country, his trophy cabinet has grown exponentially since signing for Real Madrid in the 2011‑2012 season, when he won his first La Liga. Now at 28 years of age, he still has many trophy laden years ahead of him, with Ole looking to the likes of him and Sancho to take us to the next level.

When a pundit says a player has won everything, they’re usually guilty of exaggerating, but not in Varane’s case. In fact, the only major trophy he hasn’t won is the Euros with France, and provided he remains in good condition, may still have another shot in 2024. In the near future, when we look back this generation’s greatest centre-backs, Varane’s name will be first on the list with the likes of Chiellini, Pique & Kompany, all of whom haven’t even come close to his list of trophies.

He came from humble beginnings, having played for his local club AS Hellemmes at only 7 years of age. Only a couple of years later, Varane’s potential was recognized by one of France’s top‑flight clubs, RC Lens, who had a long-list of future French superstars already on their roster. Winning his first trophy in the 2008/2009 season, he helped Lens to claim the U-16 National Championship, along with the likes of Areola, Kondogbia, Aurier & Thorgan Hazard. As he rose through the ranks, the French national team came calling and he represented his country at U-18 and U-21 level. Only one year after signing his first ever professional contract with RC Lens in the 2010-2011 season, the French team was relegated down to Ligue 2, and soon Real Madrid’s agents came banging at the door determined to secure their future main man, tying him down to a six-year deal.

While the fee for Varane was undisclosed at the time, it is believed to have been around 10 million euros, a steal for the Frenchman who would go on to conquer Europe. While other top‑flight centre‑backs like Van Dijk and Maguire have commanded huge transfer fees in recent years, it would be no surprise if Varane’s transfer to Real goes down as one of the best ever bargains. Then director at the time, Zinedine Zidane was thrilled with the signing, comparing him to the likes of legendary French defender Laurent Blanc, who also played for Manchester United.

He certainly marked his arrival in superb fashion, becoming the youngest ever nonSpanish goal scorer for Real after his goal against Rayo Vallecano, only a few days after making his debut versus Racing Santander, in September 2011. Although Los Blancos would go on to claim the domestic title during Varane’s first year, he didn’t feature much in the main squad, taking a backseat and studying the likes of Pepe, Ramos & Carvalho. As time went on, he began to feature more regularly in Real’s first team, but still only made 12 first team appearances in the league during the 2012-2013 season. One year later, Varane would begin to feature more regularly, brushing aside some injury troubles and helping Real to claim the Copa Del Rey and Champions League trophies. He started both those finals, and was an absolute rock at the back. Having matured steadily, his combination of

strength, speed and technique proved to be a solid foundation from which Real Madrid could blunt their opponents’ offensive capabilities while building their own ruthless attacks.

The cup double was an extraordinary feat to achieve that year, but it was just the beginning of his major trophy haul. The 2015 campaign would see Los Blancos begin their domination of the Champions League for the next three years running, while rivals Barcelona were unstoppable in La Liga. By the time they were done, the ex-RC Lens centre-back became the youngest defender to ever win the Champions League three times by the age of 24 in the 2017-2018 season, beating none other than Italian legend Paolo Maldini, who did it at 26. With his incredible tackling ability, height and confidence to take the ball out from the back, Varane was central to his club’s success. In 2018, he played every single minute of every game of the World Cup, a tournament which saw France beat runners-up Croatia 4-2 in the final. This would mark the beginning of Varane’s individual awards, as he clinched the UEFA Team of the Year award and a place on the FIFA World 11 squad. He’s won a total of 6 individual accolades, a strong record he’ll aim to continue to work on at United.

While Real Madrid are linked with the likes of Mbappe and other top names, they have arguably faded from the limelight slightly in the last couple of years, losing the domestic battle to fierce rivals Atletico Madrid, as well as parting ways with other top players. Perhaps Varane’s hunger for even more trophies, not to mention a better pay cheque at United, has directed him towards our beloved club. Harry Redknapp once described Rio Ferdinand as a Rolls Royce of a defender, but with all due respect to Rio, Varane is more like a Ferrari in this case. Both are similar in stature and all-round ability, with neither possessing any significant weaknesses. Paired alongside Maguire, the partnership is very reminiscent of Vidic and Rio, our last great centre-back partnership, which helped us win many titles not so long ago. Since his days at RC Lens, Varane has matured into one of the football’s best ever defenders, claiming 8 major club titles (4 Champions Leagues, 1 Copa Del Ray and 3 La Liga trophies), 6 individual awards and 1 World Cup with the Blues. At 28, he still has his best years ahead of him as a defender, and with United continuing to improve their squad year after year, there’s no telling how many more winners’ medals he’ll bag. The signing is a dream come true and effectively gives us one of the finest backlines in all of Europe, with Maguire, Shaw and WanBissaka providing speed, attacking threat, aerial prowess and positional knowhow. Let’s hope he hits the ground running and helps us to clinch at least one major trophy this year.