Former Real Madrid defender Raphaël Varane has revealed that football manager José Mourinho once called him ‘useless’ during their time together at the Santiago Bernabéu.
Varane joined Real Madrid in the summer of 2011 from Lens, linking up with Mourinho, who was about to embark on his second season as the club’s manager.
Speaking about Mourinho, Varane told The Bridge: “When I arrived, he [Mourinho] told me: ‘I only want one thing—that for an hour and a half every day, you give everything. The rest, don’t worry, you will progress, I will take care of it, relax.’
“In my first season, I must have played about fifteen matches in total, but only in games where we had already qualified or in cup matches. He made me progress little by little and didn’t throw me in at the deep end. I had a good first season, but now more was expected of me. So I overplayed a bit, and I was not comfortable—I wasn’t feeling well.
“He’s someone I really respect. He is charismatic, and he said to me straight out,‘But why are you useless?’ I looked at him, stunned, because he had actually just stung me. I told him it wasn’t easy because I wasn’t playing much and that it had been a complicated start to the season.”
Varane won 18 trophies during his 10 seasons at Real Madrid before his £42 million move to Manchester United in 2021.