Marca are raving about Raphael Varane’s performance against Borussia Dortmund this week.
The Spanish newspaper say that not only did the French central defender put in his best performance in recent months, but he may well have put in his best performance for years.
It’s stated that Varane just hasn’t been the same since his knee injury against Espanyol in the 2012/13 season. Marca say that whilst Real Madrid always kept faith with Varane, his performances often didn’t repay that trust.
Whilst many football fans outside of Spain still held Varane aloft as one of the best, his actual performances weren’t backing that up, for a long time, and the injury and fitness issues continued to swirl around the player.
If it hadn’t been for Varane’s own determination to succeed at Real Madrid then a sale would have surprised nobody, especially with clubs like Manchester United interested. At one point, or several points, selling Varane to Manchester United for a huge sum looked potentially good business for Real Madrid.
Marca reiterate on Thursday that Jose Mourinho ‘would like to take’ his former player to Manchester United, and judged upon the Dortmund performance that would be no surprise. However, also judged upon the Dortmund performance, Manchester United’s chances would appear very slim.
One game does not mean Varane is back to his best and can continue like that generally, but it certainly showed his fitness levels are good and, that when that’s the case, his performance levels will follow.
