When Varane hung up on Zidane because of the university entrance exam

Varane is one of those players who has achieved unimaginable things in the world of football. An infinity of titles among which stand out a World Cup and four Champions League titles. Undoubtedly, his most glorious period was when he wore the colours of Madrid, where he won a whopping 18 titles in 10 seasons.

A glorious period that gave way to a very dark one, in which injuries prevented him from continuing to play the sport he loved the most. A knee injury in the Como jersey sidelined him and he was forced to retire. Several months after hanging up his boots, the former defender spoke to the channel 'The Bridge Show', in which he recalled his departure from the 'Merengues'.

“Actually, it was a long process. It's not like you wake up in the morning and say you want to leave. In 2018 I won everything, in fact, the fourth Champions League we celebrated quickly. It was like a normal thing, next step, you win the Champions League and you think about the next one. Then I won the World Cup and I said to myself, I've done it all. There came a moment in my life where I restructured myself, I reviewed some things in terms of managing my career and I said to myself, I need to keep feeling emotions, I need something different,” the former player assured his compatriot Aurelien Tchouameni, who was the co-host of the program.

“Madrid is indescribable, it's exceptional, but I've already experienced it. And I said to myself, I want to experience something else. For me in England, Manchester in particular, is where you feel the passion for football. You feel it and you live it every day. Now that some time has passed, I have no regrets because it was an incredible experience,” the Frenchman said of his spell at United.

On the other hand, Varane told a very funny anecdote about the moment when Zidane called him to sign for Madrid: “When he called me (June 2011), it was a time when my life was a little hectic. I was very young (17 years old), I was in high school and at the same time my transfer was taking shape. I had a lot of applications, agents calling me, clubs.... So it was difficult to focus. When Zidane called me it was at night, I was tired, I'd had training and at first I didn't pay much attention to him.”

“After a while I recognised his voice. I went blank. I recognised his accent and thought, I know this voice. I tried to place myself and thought it was 'Zizou'. But I was panicking a bit and asked him if we could talk later, as I was busy,” confessed the Frenchman, who was preparing for his university entrance exam.

As soon as he hung up on the iconic French footballer, Varane told his brother that he had had a conversation with Zidane himself. “I was in shock, actually. When I got home, I went straight to my brother and told him: 'You won't believe me, I just spoke to 'Zizou' on the phone!