Raphael Varane has confirmed he turned down an offer to reunite with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United because he wants to continue his career at Real Madrid. The France global has managed a decent 53 Liga BBVA appearances over the past couple of seasons, but missed the club’s UnDecima triumph over Atletico Madrid and the Euro 2016 through injury.
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Mourinho forged a strong bond with the 23-year-old defender during his time at the Santiago Bernabeu, giving him a place in the starting line-up ahead of the likes of Sergio Ramos and Pepe despite only being a teenager.
Ever since Mourinho moved from London to Manchester, Varane was linked with a move to the Red Devils.
That transformation was aided in great part by Mourinho during his three-year tenure at the Santiago Bernabeu, and the United coach hoped to reunite with the France global at Old Trafford this summer only for Varane to reject the move.
“I made the decision to stay, the right decision”.
“It is flattering. Manchester United are a very big club”.
Varane is widely considered as one of the most promising young centre-backs in world football, and has impressed when playing at the heart of the Real Madrid defence since his move from Lens in 2011.
Varane told Canal Plus (h/t Foot Mercato), “I have always felt good at Real Madrid. We’re men, we have decisions to make and that’s how it is”.
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As the per-game stats from last season show, Varane would have arguably been a better purchase than Eric Bailly from Villarreal.
