in

Raphael Varane reveals Sir Alex Ferguson came to his house to sign him at 18 before Zidane convinced him to snub Man Utd


SIR ALEX FERGUSON once pitched up at a young Raphael Varane’s house to convince him to sign for Manchester United.

And the then-18-year-old was ‘very, very interested’ in making the move to Old Trafford from boyhood club Lens.

Raphael Varane eventually moved to Manchester United last summerCredit: Reuters
Sir Alex Ferguson wanted to bring Varane to Old Trafford at 18Credit: PA

But a phone call from the great Zinedine Zidane soon changed that, with the France legend convincing him Real Madrid should be his preferred destination.

Varane told the Telegraph about Ferguson’s visit: “It was a shock. To be honest, I was waiting in my house and looking out of the window to see if he was really coming. 

“When he came, I didn’t speak English. My mum speaks perfect English, so she was the person who spoke more with him. 

“It was a discussion about how he saw me, how he could have a project with me and how he could help me to grow as a person and player. 

“It was very, very interesting and a very big experience for me.”

Varane eventually signed for Madrid rather than United – but then moved to Old Trafford in a £41million deal this summer.

FREE BETS: GET THE LATEST BETTING SIGN UP OFFERS AND FREE BETS

Zinedine Zidane was Real Madrid’s sporting director at the timeCredit: AP

And things could have been very different if the decorated centre-back had continued to ignore Zidane’s calls – because he couldn’t believe what was happening to him.

He said: “Zizou called me and the transfer accelerated very quickly. I went to Madrid, I spoke with (Jose) Mourinho, I went back to France and then I took the Baccalaureate exam the day after I saw Mourinho. 

“It was a crazy moment of my life. I was playing with the first team at Lens and the club knew I had to be sold. So a lot of agents called me. 

“I was very tired because there were a lot of things to do and to think about. 

“So when Zizou first called me, I was really busy and I didn’t know it was him at the beginning.

“When I recognised him, I was in shock. It was crazy, so I asked him to call me back!”

⚽ Read our Manchester United live blog for the latest news and transfer gossip from Old Trafford

Rangnick presented as interim Manchester United boss


Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk


Tagcloud:

Leclerc suffers terrifying 160mph crash in Saudi Arabia to spark safety fears ahead of Hamilton vs Verstappen showdown

Floyd Mayweather accuses Canelo Alvarez of ‘ducking’ David Benavidez and slams cruiserweight Ilunga Makabu fight