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The Manchester United defender admitted his real reasons for retiring
Ex-France defender Raphael Varane has stated that he would have retired from the national team under "any manager," putting to rest speculation that he left the team due to current France manager Didier Deschamps.
Varane retired for personal reasons
Varane recently retired from the French national team at the relatively young age of 29, and this caused speculation about his reason for leaving so early.
One theory was that he had quit due to Deschamps’ contract being extended by the FFF, and he would have stayed on if they decided to hire Zinedine Zidane instead.
Varane rubbished those claims, saying that the decision was personal.
Speaking to Canal +, Varane said, “It has nothing to do with off-pitch matters, whether it be the other players and their international careers, the extension of the manager’s contract, or what is going on at the moment at the federation.”
When asked if he would have made a different decision if another manager had been in charge, he said, “No, it wouldn’t have changed anything,” adding that it was his “personal decision."
Varane retired a France icon
Varane was the vice captain of the French national team when he quit and would have most likely inherited the captaincy from Hugo Lloris, who also retired after the 2022 World Cup.
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Varane had played 93 times for France before retiring and had represented the country as a regular since he was 19 years old.
During the decade that he played for the French senior national team, Varane played at three World Cup tournaments, winning the title in 2018 and finishing as runner-up in 2018. He also played at the 2020 UEFA European Championships after missing the 2016 edition that France hosted and reached the final.
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