Manchester United star Varane told Zidane to call back later, his mum dealt with Ferguson but he was too shy to get a photo

But the France World Cup winner didn't let the extreme swing in fortunes alter his personality, leading to humorous exchanges with Zinedine Zidane and Sir Alex Ferguson.

Varane made his Lens debut in November 2010 and by the spring of 2011 he was being courted by the biggest names on the planet.

Manchester United and Real Madrid both wanted the centre-back and despatched key personnel in a bid to snag his signature.

The Spanish giants, with Jose Mourinho as manager, got Zidane to court the youngster but when the the French legend got in touch, Varane's reaction will have come as a huge surprise to all concerned.

"I will give you the details!" Varane told The Times. "It was a crazy moment of my life!

"I was playing with the first team and the club knew I had to be sold. So when Zizou called me, I was really busy and I didn't know it was him at the beginning. When I recognised him, I was shocked. 'Oh wow!' It was crazy, so I asked him to call me back another day because I was busy and in shock.

"He was fine. Zizou is very humble and a very normal person so he understood completely. Ten seconds after, I called my brother and told him 'You don't know what I just did!' It was crazy, crazy! For my generation, if you ask 'tell me about one football player', it's Zizou. He's the most famous and most respected player."

And when Sir Alex Ferguson made an attempt to woo Varane in person, the youngster revealed it was actually his mother that did all the talking, before a transfer to Real Madrid eventually went through.

He added: "Yes, yes! Another shock! I was looking out of the window to see if he is really coming in my house. When he came, I didn't speak English, my mum speaks perfect English so she spoke more with him. It was a discussion for an hour about how he can help me to grow as a person and player. It was a big experience.

"For me, Manchester United always was a big, big club with a big history. I remember when [Rio] Ferdinand and [Nemanja] Vidic were playing together. I always respected this club and the history. [David] Beckham, a lot of players with a big legacy at this club, so, yes, I always respected English football and especially United.

"The first idea was to come to United. Because of circumstances, Zizou called me and the transfer accelerated very quickly and I went to Madrid. I spoke with [José] Mourinho, went back to France and took the Baccalaureat the day after I saw Mourinho." He passed. "Yes! It was an absolutely crazy month!"

And rather than being a confident and cocky youngster, he admitted he lacked the courage to nab a momento of his meeting with Fergie.

Varane didn't have his picture taken with the United legend, he admitted: "I was too shy to ask." Now, though, a more mature player, he's keen on catching up with Ferguson. "Yes! I want to meet him to speak about the old times."