Raphael Varane has officially announced he is set to leave Manchester United at the end of the season.
The French centre-back signed from Real Madrid back in August 2021 for a fee believed to be around £41m including add-ons.
The five-time Champions League winner arrived with huge expectations. Unfortunately, due to a plethora of injuries, his time at Old Trafford never really did work out as many would have hoped.
Fans have mixed emotions about his departure, but one clear message seems to be shining through.
Manchester United fans react to Raphael Varane departure
The veteran French centre-half took to Twitter/X to announce his departure from the club, with the message: ‘Thankyou for everything’.
United fans flooded the comments to react with messages:
A fan posts: ‘Devasted. You have been fantastic Rapha, such a special player with a special mentality. We will all miss you so, so much and thank you for everything.’
Another adds: ‘Love you Raphaël. That announcement was incredible, apologies we couldn’t win more in your time here, good luck with whatever’s next.’
Many fans also immediately take the emotional route, with Rapha definitely a fan favourite during his time here.
Others wrote: ‘Forever a RED’, ‘We love you king, thanks for the memories,’ and ‘We will miss you Champions League Varane.’
Manchester United also responded with the message, ‘The pleasure has been all ours.’
Whilst the sale of the Frenchman is enormously sad, there is definitely a consensus that United fans have come to.
A clear feeling of the decision being the right one
Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his Ineos mob appear to be taking no prisoners. Varane has been phenomenal at parts this season, but he’s just far too injury-prone. The Frenchman is also a hefty chunk off the wage bill. United fans reacted to this:
One wrote: ‘It’s the right decision to move on from Varane. On his day he’s an absolute Rolls Royce of a player, but that day is becoming less and less frequent. If he fails to play in the League again for us, he will have only started 50% of our league games in 3 seasons with us.’
Another says: ‘As tough as it is to see a player of Raphael Varane’s quality go, his lack of availability and financial outlay means that it is the right decision. Good luck for the future Rapha.’
A third adds: ‘Loved having Varane at Manchester United, his unveiling at Old Trafford was special & he was excellent, particularly last season. Ultimately the right decision for both him & the club at his age, played 93 games but missed 60+ due to injury. Another summer domino falls.’
A final adds: ‘Varane leaving is the right decision for all parties. Formed an excellent partnership with Martinez last year but clearly nowhere near up to speed this season. CB got to be right near the top of priorities this summer.’
We’ll miss you Rapha, thanks for the memories.
