PETE JENSON: Varane is ready for Ramos-like partnership with Maguire

PETE JENSON: Raphael Varane proved Zinedine Zidane right to compare him with the great Laurent Blanc when he first signed for Real Madrid… the £42m Man United new boy was rock solid alongside Sergio Ramos and CAN form same partnership with Harry Maguire

  • Raphael Varane was always compared to Laurent Blanc by Zinedine Zidane 
  • The centre back has more than matched Blanc’s achievements in the game
  • Varane is set to follow in Blanc’s footsteps by making his Man United debut 
  • The Frenchman can form a Sergio Ramos-like partnership with Harry Maguire 

When Manchester United’s new centre-back Raphael Varane signed for Real Madrid in 2011, Zinedine Zidane seemed even more excited about the deal than the then 18-year-old defender.

Zidane was special advisor to club president Florentino Perez at the time and he had recommended his compatriot.

‘It’s not easy to find this type of centre-back. Not since Laurent Blanc have I seen a defender with his composure,’ he told Perez.

Raphael Varane won three LaLiga titles and four Champions League trophies at Real Madrid

Ten years on Varane has three Spanish league titles, four Champions Leagues and a World Cup; he’s been managed twice by Zidane; and he’s about to debut for United where Blanc ended his career.

‘I wanted to come here to experience new emotions,’ he said after his presentation at Old Trafford before the Leeds game last weekend. That moment out on the pitch with the No19 shirt has had a big impact on him. Defenders don’t get that sort of adulation at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Zidane got it right back in 2011. Varane has more than matched Blanc’s achievements. Blanc himself has echoed Zidane’s high praise: ‘He is the prototype player for this position,’ he said when coach of Paris Saint Germain. ‘He has the technique that allows him to go forward, but he is excellent defensively too.’ He has always said the comparisons flatter him not the younger player.

Varane was touched by the welcome he receieved during his presentation at Old Trafford

The centre back has always been compared to former United defender Laurent Blanc

Varane’s first exchange with Zidane remains the stuff of Real Madrid legend. It was an awkward telephone conversation when Varane was just a 16-year-old Lens trainee.

Zidane had called him to tell him of Real Madrid’s interest in signing him. Years later Varane recalled: ‘I was studying for my baccalauréat [A-Levels equivalent] when Zizou called me and I wasn’t too sure who was really on the other end of the line.

‘I heard them say: “This isn’t a joke”. I said: “But who is this?” Then I started to recognise the voice and I became embarrassed. With the shock of the call I panicked and said: “Can we talk another time because I’m a busy and I can’t really talk right now?”’

Far from putting Zidane off, he took Varane’s response for just another show of his unflappability. Little did he know Varane was panicking to his brother Anthony at the time: ‘Zizou has just called me and I’ve snubbed him’.

Zinedine Zidane first contacted Varane about joining Real when he was a 16-year-old

Varane won Jose Mourinho over in quick time at Real Madrid displacing Pepe as Sergio Ramos’ central defensive partner. The two became the most successful centre back pairing in the club’s history.

If there was ever a doubt about him through the years it was that he over-relied on the leadership of Ramos alongside him. When the captain was missing he wasn’t always the same player and Madrid were not the same defensive force.

That was never more evident than at the Etihad Stadium in 2020 when Manchester City beat Real Madrid 2-1 to knock them out of the Champions League and Varane, with no Ramos alongside him, made the two mistakes that gifted them victory.

Former Madrid player and coach Jorge Valdano working as a pundit at the game summed it up: ‘Ramos comes out of this very well and he wasn’t even on the pitch.’

Varane and Ramos became Real’s most successful centre back pairing in the club’s history

The Frenchman was scrutinised as he made two mistakes in Ramos’ absence at the Etihad

But that doubt eroded last season. Ramos only started 15 games in La Liga and Varane, who started 31, looked assured and ready to be Real Madrid’s new leader once Ramos had gone.

Real Madrid’s obsession with saving up enough money to pay Kylian Mbappe led to a reluctance to meet Varane’s demands. And those demands were high in part because Varane wanted a new challenge. He wanted to feel special again as he felt out on the pitch at Old Trafford last week.

Varane might have ended up at United a decade ago had Zidane not persuaded him otherwise. Today if he makes his debut he will have followed the footsteps of Blanc, the man he has always been likened to.

And if Harry Maguire becomes his Ramos – and there are similarities – then Varane can carry on performing the role he made his own at Madrid: the calm, composed solidity, alongside the inspirational captain.

If Harry Maguire can become his Ramos, Varane can carry on performing the role he made his own at Madrid




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