Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane has revealed that he said ‘no’ to a reunion with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United during the summer as he’s “in sync” with the “project” at his current club.
The France international arrived at the Bernabeu during 2011, at which time ‘The Special One’ was in charge of Los Blancos.
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Varane quickly integrated himself into the first-team under Mourinho, who later described him as “the best young central defender in the world.”
Reports of the 23-year-old being on Man United’s radar circulated over the summer, but the classy centre-back remained at Real and has now revealed that he did indeed reject interest from the Old Trafford heavyweights.
"It is flattering. Manchester United are a very big club. But from the moment Madrid and I are in sync on my project, there's no questions to ask yourself,” he told Canal+ (via Eurosport)
"I have always said I feel good in Madrid. It is not easy to say 'no' to Jose Mourinho but you have to weigh up the pros and the cons. We're men, we have decisions to make and that's how it is."
As the per-game stats from last season show, Varane would have arguably been a better purchase than Eric Bailly from Villarreal. Of course, there are caveats in terms of the quality of the team they played for in La Liga, but the Frenchman edged out his Ivorian counterpart in most areas.
Interestingly, in terms of being a ‘ball-playing’ centre-back, Daley Blind outshone Varane last term, making more successful passes while his ‘key pass’ return was vastly superior.
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