‘There wasn’t a clear structure on how things were going to work’ – Raphaël Varane on time at Manchester United | OneFootball

In an interview with The Athletic journalist Charlotte Harpur, former RC Lens, Real Madrid, and Manchester United defender Raphaël Varane (31) spoke about his time with the Red Devils. The France 2018 World Cup winner compared his time at Real Madrid, where he won four Champions League trophies, to his arrival in the Premier League with Manchester United. “Even from the inside as a player, there wasn’t a clear structure on how things were going to work,” the Frenchman told Harpur. “There hasn’t been a fixed methodology for years. At Madrid they have a defined way of doing things at every level of the club. At Manchester it was not clear or defined enough to know how to recruit, how to play, how to communicate.”“There were too many people involved in the decision-making process, so we didn’t know who was really making the decisions. I can’t say who was responsible, I don’t know. It was a bit of everyone and a bit of no one.”Varane made 95 appearances with United from 2021 to 2024, in a what was a turbulent period for the side from Northern England. The former RC Lens defender retired from international football at the age of just 29 in February 2023. However, despite decreasing his workload, injuries remained frequent. The Frenchman left Manchester United upon the expiry of his contract last summer, joining newly promoted Serie A side Como on a free transfer. After joining Cesc Fabgregas’ side he suffered a severe knee injury which prompted the 2018 World Cup winner to retire.GFFN | George Boxall