Three weeks ago, Raphaël Varane announced that he was ending his career as a professional footballer. The French international leaves with numerous trophies won, notably with Real Madrid. Trained by Zinédine Zidane for five seasons, he admits to having disagreed with the French legend at the start of his mandate.
Raphaël Varane was to begin a new chapter in his career this summer by signing with Como. The former Lensois injured his left knee during preparation, which alerted him to the weaknesses of his body and pushed him to end his career. Now in the development committee of the club Como, Early looked back on his career and notably spoke about his relationship with Zidane.
“With Zidane we haven’t always agreed on everything”
In an interview given to The Team, Raphaël Varane looks back on his golden years Real Madrid : « José Mourinho has initiated something enormous. Ancelotti managed to convert it, and then we had the golden generation at its peak, with Zizou at the helm. He called me to Lens so that I would sign for Real, and so I found him as coach. I learned a lot from him, even if we didn’t always agree on everything. He understands the players really well, he has always defended them, he has always taken on the difficult moments. »
“At the beginning, I was a substitute”
« At the beginning, in 2016, I was a substitute with Zidane, explains the 2018 world champion. I don’t play every match, I had to fight. And transform myself. I was ultra-shy, and those who knew me must have wondered what happened to make me become a leader like that. »
