Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane has explained that he rejected Manchester United last year after being convinced of the Spanish club’s trust in him.
United were heavily linked with a move for the Frenchman after Jose Mourinho took over at Old Trafford, and have again been credited with an interest in him in the media this week.
And Varane has now revealed why he decided against joining the Premier League club in the past, but gave nothing away over whether he would now consider a change of heart.
“I preferred to discuss with the leaders and the coach to know if they had confidence in me,” he told L’Equipe.
“They did, so I got my head down.”
Varane has also revealed that those who believed he would fail at Real motivated him to make a success of his Santiago Bernabeu career.
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"That's what some people thought and it motivated me,” he added.
“When you don't believe in me, I don't say anything but it titillates me. It takes a great strength of character to arrive at Real at eighteen years and make a journey like I have so far.”