Having left after one season in L1, the defender, who arrived at Lens at the age of 9, left Artois in the summer of 2010 at the age of 17. To Real Madrid, for 10 million euros, excluding bonuses. Among these bonuses, a clause stipulates that the Madrid club must pay a bonus of €500,000 to RC Lens in the event of victory in the Champions League. A clause like any other. Except that Real, where Varane signed until 2017, will win three times: in 2014, in 2016 and in 2017. So far, the accounts are easy: An additional 1.5 million therefore falls into the Lens coffers.
The cheeky letter to Florentino Perez
The player has – in the meantime – extended his contract until 2020 (then 2022). The bonus is therefore no longer relevant for the fourth round of the Champions League in 2018 by the defender from the north. Didier Roudet, about to leave Lens for Rennes, then convinced Gervais Martel to contact his alter ego madrilenian. We wrote a letter to Florentino Perez, remembers the former president of Lens. His response was positive. It was such a classy gesture on his part… A gesture of a lord, quite simply! » This is how Lens saw a fourth bonus of €500,000 reach them, while Real were not contractually required to pay him. The player then also brought in a lot of money for the blood and gold leaders, when he signed for Manchester United, in 2021. >>> ALSO READ: TEN THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT RAPHAEL VARANE
