The Red Devils were on the verge of signing arguably the world’s best young defender, reckons Chelsea manager…
Chelsea’s maverick manager Jose Mourinho has confirmed that current Premier League rivals Manchester United almost signed brilliant young French defender Raphael Varane back in 2011, the Daily Mail reports.
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Instead, the centre-back joined Real Madrid, managed then by Mourinho, and Varane quickly earned a reputation as one of the most promising young defenders on the planet.
“I was on holiday and in Madrid,” Mourinho told Telefoot.
“Zinedine Zidane arrived with a DVD and I thought ‘That player, with two years’ work with us, would be fantastic’.
“Varane had one foot at Manchester United but Real Madrid are very strong and Rapha came to us.”
Since making his debut, Varane has racked up 79 appearances for Los Blancos, and won 14 caps for France, too. He currently competes with Pepe and Sergio Ramos for first-team football, but is expected to soon take the former’s place if he continues developing at his current rate.
Interestingly, United could desperately do with a defender of Varane’s quality this season.
Since Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand left in the summer, Louis van Gaal’s squad have been depleted by injuries in central defence, and have had to rely on youngsters such as Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair.
Varane would walk in the current United side, but there’s little chance of him being available, Mourinho confirmed.
” I Like Varane, but everybody knows that he will stay at Real Madrid,” he said.