Former Manchester United star Raphael Varane is reportedly considering retirement due to his continued injury hell.
The 31-year-old has been plagued by fitness issues his entire career and has already spent over 700 days sidelined since 2013.
Varane was injured on his Como debutCBS
The World Cup winner, who wasn’t offered a new deal at Old Trafford earlier this summer, joined Italian side Como on a free transfer.
Varane rejected lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia to instead link up with Cesc Fabregas at the Serie A newcomers on a two-year deal.
However, he lasted just 23 minutes on his Como debut after being forced off in their Coppa Italia clash with Sampdoria last month.
According to La Parisien, Varane suffered another serious knee injury and is now considering a premature retirement.
The defender stopped playing international football in February 2023, two months shy of his 30th birthday, to cope with the physical demands of football’s ‘overloaded’ schedule.
Now, 19 months later, the 93-cap France international is said to be announcing his decision to hang up his boots for good soon.
Fabregas has already omitted Les Bleus legend Varane from Como’s squad until the next registration date.
This means that the Frenchman wouldn’t even be available to play until 2025 at the earliest even if his latest rehab goes smoothly.
It may prove to be that Varane, who has played at the top level for 14 years, opts against putting his body through those demands again.
Since the start of the 2021/22 campaign, the centre-back has now picked up 12 separate injuries.
Varane has struggled with injuries for over a decade
Varane has missed over 150 games for club and country across 11 seasons with 27 different injuries since his first in 2013.
Varane made his Lens debut in November 2010 and by the spring of 2011, he was courted by the biggest teams on the planet.
He snubbed initial interest from Sir Alex Ferguson to link up with Jose Mourinho in Madrid following an intervention from Zinedine Zidane.
Varane would ultimately work under Zizou five year later, with the pair winning three Champions League titles in successive seasons as well as a La Liga title.
By then, the former had already undergone the first of his surgeries on his knee after tearing his lateral meniscus during Real’s 1-1 draw at Espanyol in May 2013.
Despite this, Zidane once said: “I don’t want a Madrid without Varane,” following ongoing speculation surrounding the defender’s future.
After winning everything in Spain, Varane sought pastures new and finally sealed a switch to the Theatre of Dreams in a transfer rising to £42million three years ago.
Varane’s Wembley showing was the perfect final performance for Man UnitedGetty
Unfortunately, his frequent injuries followed him to the Premier League and limited his overall influence at Man United.
He never managed more than 24 Premier League appearances in each of his three seasons due to his repeated problems.
The last of the 95 appearances he did make in a United shirt was arguably among his finest performances since joining the club.
Varane was a standout player in May’s FA Cup final, having started the 2-1 victory over Man City at Wembley.
