French center back Raphael Varane admitted he came close to leaving Real Madrid this summer, as a number of teams were interested in having him around.
In fact, the 23-year old revealed he said "no" to an offer by Manchester United's boss, José Mourinho, in order to "keep developing" at Real Madrid.
"Real Madrid is the best place for me to continue my career. It was a good decision to stay at Madrid. I believe in the club and I believe in the coach. I have spoken with him a lot and he has faith in me," Varane stated after Los Blancos' 5-3 win against Reims yesterday.
Varane enters his sixth season at Real Madrid, hoping he can remain fit to fight for a spot in the starting lineup.
The talented defender admitted that the idea of leaving the team crossed his mind, ad maybe if "Zizou" wasn't around, he could have parted ways with the team.
"Zidane's presence is one of the reasons behind my decision to stay. I believe that staying put was the right call. I want to reach my best level this season. It was hard to miss the Euros due to injury, but I want to move on and look toward the future," Varane added.
With Pepe still recovering from a muscle strain picked up during the UEFA Euro, Varane is expected to start for Los Blancos against Real Sociedad next weekend.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
Real Sociedad 0 - 3 Real Madrid
August 21, 2016 2:15pmEstadio Municipal de Anoeta (Donostia-San Sebastián)This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
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