Varane opens up on Sir Alex Ferguson visit to convince him to join Man Utd

Sir Alex Ferguson visited Raphael Varane and his family to try and persuade him to join Manchester United in 2011.

Varane, 28, was finally unveiled as a Red Devils player last weekend after the club agreed a £40million deal with Real Madrid in July.

The Frenchman is regarded as one of the best centre-backs in Europe and he is expected to partner Harry Maguire for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's side.

But things could have been very different for Varane if Ferguson had his way a decade ago, as the legendary Scot was desparate to sign him only to miss out to Los Blancos.

Varane was unveiled at Old Trafford ahead of the clash with Leeds United on Saturday ( Image:

Getty Images,)

Then an emerging teenage talent with Lens, Varane had attracted attention from all over Europe with a brilliant breakout season.

He ended up moving to Real Madrid in June 2011 for a fee of €10million (£8.5m), but not until Ferguson paid him a visit to try and convince him otherwise.

"There had been a lot of rumours and a lot of people speaking about me and Manchester United since 2011, when Sir Alex Ferguson came to my mother's house," Varane told United's official website.

"When it was real, that was when I spoke with my club, and I felt it was a real opportunity to play in the Premier League for Manchester United."

Varane previously reflected on his links with United in 2014, when he explained he turned down a move to Old Trafford because centre-back Phil Jones had just joined the club.

He told French outlet L'Equipe : "Manchester United? They had just signed Phil Jones in my position."

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Varane was also linked with Paris Saint-Germain before joining Real Madrid and added: "PSG? The project there wasn't clear. The Qataris had only just arrived and it was all very vague.

"My first reaction when Real wanted to sign me was not: 'Of course I will go.' I only made my decision when I knew that the coach wanted me to play in the first team."

Jones is still on United's books but he has not played any first-team minutes since January 2020 due persistent injury problems.

As such, Varane is unlikely to fear competition from the Englishman, but he will need to usurp Victor Lindelof to partner Maguire.

Meanwhile, Jones reportedly refused to give up his shirt number so Varane could wear his favoured No.4 jersey for the Red Devils.

The World Cup winner has instead been given the No.19 shirt, which is the same number he wore during his first season with Real Madrid.