World Cup winner reveals shock about Benfica boss José Mourinho: "I'm going to kill myself..." | OneFootball

Raphaël Varane revealed that he was convinced of José Mourinho’s abilities right from their first conversation with the current Benfica coach. The French center-back, world champion in 2018, gave an interview to the Spanish newspaper ‘As’, where he discussed his move to Real Madrid.

“I was at my mother’s house studying when the phone rang. It rang so much at that time that I didn’t even pay attention to who was on the other end. I just thought ‘another one...’ Suddenly, it was Zidane,” Varane began, who was only 18 years old when he moved from Lens to Real Madrid.

The French defender continued: “I was really startled. I asked him if we could talk at another time because I was busy, and he said – elegantly, as always – that yes, it was no problem. I ran to tell my brother what had happened and then called back.”

“Before signing, I traveled to Madrid and spoke personally with Mourinho, because I wanted to know if he really wanted me. He has a lot of charisma. I left saying: ‘I’ll kill myself for this man’,” Raphaël Varane explained about his first conversation with the current Benfica coach – who also spoke about the French defender recently.

Finally, Varane addressed the end of his career, which came recently at the age of 31: “Back in 2013, I tore my external meniscus, which is the most complicated. I had surgery and they removed 72% of that meniscus. I couldn’t fully extend or flex my leg, to protect my knee joints. I always played in pain. In my knee, in my Achilles tendon, in my back... Even now, when I play sports, I feel pain. Doing sports is very good for your health, but high-level competition is not.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.