Manchester United centre-back and former France international Raphaël Varane (30) took a trip down memory lane on Tuesday.
The RC Lens youth product had the pleasure of being reunited with László Bölöni, his former coach with the Artois side at Carrington, the Red Devils’ training ground. Bölöni is the current manager of FC Metz who currently sit third in Ligue 2. “Catching up with my coach from RC Lens László Bölöni – the first time we have seen each other in 12 years !!”, posted Varane on Instagram.
Bölöni, a Champions League winner with Steaua Bucarest in 1986, coached RC Lens in 2011 when the club was in disarray and heading to Ligue 2. Varane made 24 appearances for Lens in the 2010-2011 Ligue 1 season. His exceptional maturity and tactical awareness as well as his handling of the ball at such a young age earned him a €10m move to Real Madrid the following summer. The Lille-born defender won four Champions Leagues with Los Blancos (2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018) as well as the 2018 World Cup with Les Bleus.
Following Les Bleus’ defeat in the 2022 FIFA World Cup final against Argentina in December, Varane made the shock decision to retire from international football. For Manchester United this season, he has featured in 30 games across four competitions.
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
