At the time, Raphael Varane’s move to Manchester United seemed like a solid choice. After leaving an aging Real Madrid side, he joined the Red Devils seemingly on the up, with Cristiano Ronaldo joining the club afterwards.
Twelve months on, that choice looks a little less like an straight-forward swap. Los Blancos lifted the Champions League trophy, while United fell out of the competition altogether. On a personal level, a mixture of injury and struggles in adapting to a new team resulted in a less than successful season for Varane.
Yet the French defender has no regrets. Speaking to the BBC, in an interview covered by MEN, Varane confirmed he had made the right choice.
“In football you have to challenge yourself and you also have to try to improve. I wanted to live another experience after ten years in the same place.”
"We’ll all be better with this competition" – Raphael Varane on Lisandro Martinez's impending arrival before answering a question about under-fire #MUFC captain Harry Maguire pic.twitter.com/TGqjFdf82J
— Simon Peach (@SimonPeach) July 21, 2022
“I think the Premier League is absolutely fantastic and Manchester United are a great club, so have no doubt about my decision [last summer].”
Varane will also be under pressure to improve this season. With the expensive signing of Lisandro Martinez from Ajax, if Erik ten Hag opts for a back four, then one of Varane, captain Harry Maguire or Martinez will have to miss out. Should it be Varane, it would be quite the fall from grace for the World Cup winner.
