Real Madrid Star Was Close To Manchester United Deal

Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane has revealed that he came close to moving to Manchester United before sealing a switch to the Santiago Bernabeu.
The France international joined Los Blancos from Lens in 2011, with the Liga outfit paying a reported €10 million for the centre-half.
However, Varane has admitted that he strongly considered a transfer to Old Trafford, but decided that linking up with Madrid was the better option for his development as a player.

“We were close to an agreement with Manchester United,” he told Telefoot. “My mom speaks English and this facilitated the translation.
“There was also an interesting project [on offer] but I made a choice for my career.
“I think I can go higher and mark my generation. I would be happy to tell myself I did the maximum and went as far as I could during my career.”
Former Madrid coach Jose Mourinho also confirmed that the Spanish side had to fight off competition from United for Varane’s services.
“I was on vacation,” the Chelsea boss explained. “La Liga was over. I was in Madrid and Zinedine Zidane shows up with a DVD.
“I looked at the player and I was very happy with what I saw.”
“Manchester United wanted him but Real Madrid was very strong in this deal.”
Varane has had his injury problems in Spain but, on September 18, he signed a new contract with Madrid that binds him to the European champions until 2020