Raphaël Varane | Retires

whitbyviking said:
I’ll start a new thread
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Hi, would it be possible for you to tag me in the thread you're making for this please? I can't seem to find it but I am very interested in finding out more information regarding the Youtube links etc. Thanks in advance. :)
 
El Zoido said:
Yeah you may be right. He is only 31, which seems crazy.
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And there aren't many 31-year olds who were considered world class for the majority of their career who were ready to voluntarily cash out at that kind of age. Eric's a famous one, so too Kroos at 32, but they are extreme outliers.

I think most would agree that a fit Varane would still be here; he's got to come to terms with what he would be capable of if given his body back, and what his reality is (that that's not possible anymore) for him to contemplate stepping away from competitive football down to retirement leagues.
 
Such a shame for him but what a career he's had. Hopefully that's some comfort at least if he does retire

You wonder if he could do a ledley king and just not really train anymore, only playing once a week and otherwise just rehabbing all week - 31 is no age at all.

Was only a few months ago he was colossal in a cup final against the best team in the world
 
Fortitude said:
I think he's fed up/demoralised. He still wants to play competitive football, and if he's not mentally ready to drop down to such levels, it'll probably do him more harm than good.

Those end of [footballing] life moves are supposed to be a victory lap when the player is either satisfied with where they are in their own process, or when the player is seeking a massive payday (Saudi). Varane doesn't strike me as either, yet, at least, so not being able to do what he wants to do must sting.

Must be a terrible feeling when your body gives up before you do.
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You might be right mate, could be why he's reportedly just considering retirement.
 
Fortitude said:
I think he's fed up/demoralised. He still wants to play competitive football, and if he's not mentally ready to drop down to such levels, it'll probably do him more harm than good.

Those end of [footballing] life moves are supposed to be a victory lap when the player is either satisfied with where they are in their own process, or when the player is seeking a massive payday (Saudi). Varane doesn't strike me as either, yet, at least, so not being able to do what he wants to do must sting.

Must be a terrible feeling when your body gives up before you do.
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If your head can’t get on board with playing and living in Como, you need to retire. It should have been a really nice two year career end. Shame that it’s not working out for him.
 
stevoc said:
You might be right mate, could be why he's reportedly just considering retirement.
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The injury cycles off of hope that you're fit again must be brutal.

I've had mini cycles of that myself and they've been brutal, but I'm not a professional athlete, where I can imagine it is multiple times worse.

Takes great mental fortitude to keep trying and I think there comes a time when, even with the best will in the world, you either have to stop for the sake of your post-career health, or someone needs to sit you down and have the talk with you.

Varane seems to be very lucid when he talks about his own health; his comments on what heading the ball has done to him are profound, for example, so I reckon he'll make a sound call on where he goes from here.
 
UnrelatedPsuedo said:
If your head can’t get on board with playing and living in Como, you need to retire. It should have been a really nice two year career end. Shame that it’s not working out for him.
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That post was in response to suggestion of him dropping down to MLS, i.e. non-competitive football relative to what he's known as a professional.

He was very much dialled into Como's project as far as I'm aware.
 
One of the most decorated defenders to ever lace up. Sucks that injuries did not permit him having a late prime with us because he was class whenever he could play a string of games together.
 
Shocker! Was still a good player when he did make the pitch for us, so this feels a good few years too soon.
But the best do hold certain standards so not surprising if he feels he's not got the top level anymore or the will to come back from serious injuries.
 
Hugely likeable player and personality and an immensely talented defender.


Unfortunately for him I also think due to his quiet nature I can’t help but think that he won’t get the recognition he deserves as a legend of the game due to the fact he played alongside Ramos and in a team that contained 2 in the conversation for GOAT in their positions and about 7 or 8 other genuinely world class stars.
 
Such a great player and wish we’d seen more of him in a United shirt.

31 is a crazy age for a CB to have to retire, it’s almost unbelievable he was playing in and winning an FA Cup final vs. City only a few months ago.

In a morbid way I can’t help but think had Woody been at the helm he’d still be under contract with us though.
 
Ah man, it's sad it's had to end this way. The definition of Rolls Royce defender, he's won the lot.

I hope he remains involved with football, I think he could be a good coach/manager.
 
Absolute class act on and off the pitch. Will be interesting to see what he does next.
 
A true all time great, and seemed like a top guy as well.

It's a shame he was so injury ravaged, he still had time to leave more of a legacy here as he was only 28 when he joined us.

Beating City in the FA Cup final isn't a bad way to bow out.
 
All the very best Rafa. A colossus when fit, tremendous player and career. Bloody shame to finish at 31 but obviously holds himself to a very high standard which I also admire. Champions League Varane.
 
Mad that Pepe's still going.

Real Madrid bought a 19 year old Varane in 2011 as the long term successor to the then 28 year old Pepe. He did eventually do that at Madrid, but Pepe's still going strong today.
 
One of my favourite defenders at United.

Honestly. When I used to play football, I'd play as defender. I'd always watch defenders therefore and see how they did.

RV would exude a certain class and intelligence. Such a shame he was wracked with injury and now has to retire.

Best of luck to him.
 
Fortitude said:
And there aren't many 31-year olds who were considered world class for the majority of their career who were ready to voluntarily cash out at that kind of age. Eric's a famous one, so too Kroos at 32, but they are extreme outliers.

I think most would agree that a fit Varane would still be here; he's got to come to terms with what he would be capable of if given his body back, and what his reality is (that that's not possible anymore) for him to contemplate stepping away from competitive football down to retirement leagues.
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Roy Keane and Bastian S were other legends who had to retire in their early 30s. You would assume they would carry on for a few more years at least if their body would let them. We need to stop paying fees for players in their late 20s who are star names. What we’ve been doing is like when Celtic signed Keane. I’ve nothing against grabbing a player or two of this age on a free for a year or two to see how it goes but Casemiro Ronaldo and Varane on the balance were all poor signings. We’ve needed to replace all those players after one season pretty much which is terrible waste
 
I fecking loved Varane. It's almost unbelievable how good he still was despite his injuries.
 
Sad to see him have to retire at such a young age, but what an absolutely amazing craerr he has had. He's done it all really. Shame more of it wasn't at United, but I was still very excited when we signed him and I think he was very good when available. Especially in Ten Hag's first year, that partnership with Martinez was great.

Sounds like he's sticking around in football so will be interested to see what he does next.
 
Great CB. This is going to maybe bring back more discussion regarding concussions and head trauma in general. You could see this guy was struggling for a while.

Shame he finished in difficult circumstances but he was one of the best CBs not too long ago.
 
Wasn't here very long, but I grew fond of him as MU player pretty quickly, mainly down to how good I know he was at RM. Remember way back when, when we where first interested in him while he was still playing for Lens, really wanted us to buy him(knew of his talent through FM as well hehe).

Imo one of the greatest CBs for the last 15 years. Such a Rolls Royce defender as he was often called. Seems like a very classy and kind person off the field as well.
 
Seemed inevitable. Great player in his pomp, but his body just wasn’t quite up to it.

He achieved a lot even with the limitations. I read a tweet yesterday that said his injuries caused him to miss ‘at least’ 150 games at club level!
 
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