When Florentino Pérez imagined his Real Madrid of the future a few years ago, Raphaël Varane was one of the players on his list alongside Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Eduardo Camavinga. Arriving at the age of 18 in the Spanish capital on the advice of a certain Zinedine Zidane, the French defender, purchased for €10 million at the time, learned alongside Pepe and Sergio Ramos before settling into the eleven holder. Nicknamed Don Limpio (Mr. Clean, editor’s note), the former RC Lens player made everyone agree.
With Eder Militão and him, we said that the residents of the Santiago-Bernabéu stadium had their central hinge for a few years. But Varane upset the plans of Casa Blanca. In 2021, he decided to return his apron to the Madrilenians after ten years of good and loyal service. The project proposed by Manchester United convinced him to make a fresh start. A starter during his first season, he played 29 matches in all competitions. Time for him to score 1 goal and deliver 1 assist. His serenity and experience were quickly appreciated by supporters and the English media.
His case questions and worries
After another year as a starter (34 matches in all competitions) under the orders of Erik ten Hag, the 30-year-old player started this new exercise with the confidence of his coach. He was in the starting XI during the first three days of the championship, he who also scored the goal in the 1-0 victory against Wolverhampton on August 14. But he was stopped in full swing by an injury which kept him away from the field for 27 days (missing 4 matches). Back, he alternated between starts, appearances and periods on the bench without playing (12 matches, 7 starts, 1 goal this season, editor’s note).
During the last 4 days of the Premier League, he was systematically a substitute and did not always come into play. Enough to ask questions. In England, the press does not hesitate to do so. Former Red Devil, Rio Ferdinand spoke about Varane’s discomfort in his YouTube show Vibe with FIVE. His remarks were relayed this Tuesday by the Daily Mail. “We do not know. If he is on the bench, it is because he must be in good shape. In my mind, when you’re on the bench you can play, because you can come on from the first minute if someone gets injured.”
A surprising downgrade
He pursues : “so if you are fit enough to travel and sit on the bench, then you are fit (to play). So, I don’t know what the reason is. But I know what Varane may be thinking: “I won Champions Leagues, I played an essential role in obtaining all these titles, I played with the best players in the world, I came to Man United and Jonny Evans go past me! No disrespect (to Evans). Regardless of what he did, Jonny Evans was never on Varane’s mind.”
Since his return from injury, the former French international has been relegated to fourth place in the hierarchy of MU central defenders. Ten Hag prefers Jonny Evans, Victor Lindelöf and Harry Maguire, who was nevertheless pushed out last summer. A hard blow for Varane. THE Telegraph believes that he is paying for his tense and complicated relationship with the Dutch technician. This would not be the first victim of ETH at Man U. Cristiano Ronaldo or even Jadon Sancho can attest to this. For his part, The Athletic rather evokes tactical choices on the part of the former Ajax Amsterdam coach.
Varane wants to play her like Maguire
The latter confirmed this recently. “Absolutely not (no personal issues). As I said, these are tactical reasons which pushed me to choose this association. I think Harry (Maguire) and Jonny (Evans) did things well (…) There are moments in certain matches where Maguire and Varane can play together and they have already proven that they can do it. But the build isn’t as smooth when one of them plays left central defender. I have always been satisfied with his performances (speaking of Varane, editor’s note). But at the moment, Harry is playing very well and there is internal competition.
Despite everything, his treatment is worrying. Under contract until June 2025, the Frenchman, purchased for 40 million euros, went from indisputable holder to fourth wheel of the carriage. But he doesn’t seem to be having a hard time with the situation. In any case, this is the message conveyed by those close to him to The Athletic. The English media explains that the 2018 world champion is convinced of being able to regain his place in the Mancunian eleven. Harry Maguire, who was still a plague victim a few months ago, was able to reverse the trend and become a starter again. Varane believes that this is a good example to follow. The ball is therefore in his court!
