Raphael Varane has announced his retirement from football just three months after leaving Manchester United.
The 31-year-old centre-back left Manchester United this summer after his contract expired and he joined Serie A side Como weeks later.
However, after suffering another long-term injury, Raphael Varane has announced his retirement from football. He is set to stay in a non-playing role with Como.
The last professional game of his glittering 14-year career is Manchester United’s 2-1 win over Manchester City in the FA Cup final.
Varane posted an emotional message on Instagram to announce his retirement, and Manchester United were quick to respond with a heart-warming letter to the Old Trafford fan favourite.
Raphael Varane was superb for Man United
Varane arrived at Old Trafford in a £34m deal from Real Madrid, and the four-time Champions League winner and World Cup winner lived up to the hype.
He made 95 appearances across all competitions for United and was a key part of Erik ten Hag‘s side that went on to lift the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup in successive years.
Ten Hag was a big admirer of Varane, hailing him as a “leader” and praising the great partnership he formed alongside Lisandro Martinez.
However, Varane’s United career was plagued with a frustrating number of injuries. He was fantastic when on the pitch, but constant setbacks meant he was never able to piece together a consistent run of games.
Ultimately, it is injuries that have forced Varane to call an end to his career despite being just 31 years old. He hangs his boots up as a footballing legend, but his sudden retirement has proved Ineos were right to make a bold decision this summer.
Ineos £18m decision was the right one
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos wasted no time making big calls at Manchester United following their minority takeover.
One of their many tasks was handling the contract situation at Old Trafford and they chose not to trigger a 12-month extension in Varane’s contract.
Despite Varane being one of United’s better defenders at the time, Ineos decided that they would allow the Frenchman’s contract to run down rather than continue paying his £340,000 per week wages.
READ MORE: Gary Neville slams £60m and £34m Manchester United deals, ‘won’t happen again’ under Ineos
That equates to almost £18m a year, which would have been paid to Varane had his contract extension been triggered. Seeing Varane retire at such a young age is sad, but it has proved that Ineos were right to allow him to leave when he did.
Instead, Ineos set their sights on the transfer market and signed two younger options at centre-back. Leny Yoro joined for £52m before Matthijs de Ligt also signed for £38m.
Ineos also decided to let Anthony Martial, another of United’s highest earners, leave this summer after deciding against giving him a new contract.
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