Raphaël Varane reveals how he was convinced to join Real Madrid | OneFootball

Raphaël Varane has revealed that both Zinedine Zidane and José Mourinho played an instrumental role in his transfer to Real Madrid.

Varane was wanted by a number of top clubs in Europe before making his 2011 switch from Lens to Los Blancos.

And in an interview with French outlet Onze Mundial, the 26-year-old has given an insight into how his move to the Bernabeu came about.

“Mourinho and Zidane deserve the credit there, I couldn’t do anything, they were the ones who saw things in me,” says Varane.

“They took a gamble, nobody in the club knew about me, nobody except for them. In the media, in the city, just nobody knew about me, not even the players.

“It was something like they were taking a gamble on the young player and let’s see if it pays off or not.”

It certainly has paid off, with the Frenchman helping the club to two LaLiga titles and four Champions Leagues during his time at the club.

But the move almost didn’t happen due to the fact Varane ignored a phone call from Zidane – who was working as a consultant for the club at the time – because he was studying for his exams at the time.

“I was going to say I was careless, but I was just irresponsible,” he added.

“I received so many phone calls, I was very tired and it was a stressful time, it’s true that I didn’t realise what was going on at the time.”