Raphaël Varane lifts lid on Erik ten Hag’s banishment of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, and himself

Raphaël Varane has opened the lid on Erik ten Hag’s punishments of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, and himself during his period at the club.

Raphaël Varane signed for Manchester United in the summer of 2021 alongside Jadon Sancho and Cristiano Ronaldo in what many hoped would be a positive season under Ole Gunnar Solskjær.

However, the Norwegian manager was then sacked just months later, with Michael Carrick and then Ralf Rangnick taking care of the team before Erik ten Hag was appointed as the new permanent manager in the summer.

Varaen started the 2022/23 campaign as the Dutchman’s first-choice centre-back alongside Lisandro Martínez, but a series of injuries and a disagreement with Ten Hag saw the French World Cup winner lose his place before he left the club in 2024.

However, United fans remember Varane fondly, with the player having won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup at the club, and the player himself has explained many times that he continues to have a fond connection with Old Trafford.

Varane then chose to retire after suffering from multiple knee problems after departing United, making the 2024 FA Cup final win the final game of his career.

Varane opens up on Ten Hag disagreements

Despite his fairytale ending, Varane’s final season was not all roses and glory, with the player not playing for two months under Ten Hag, with the manger explaining it was a tactical decision.

Many thought the Dutchman was referring to United’s higher line, that Ten Hag might have seen as unfit for Varane, and speaking to The Athletic, the player has now lifted the lid on the conversation he had that led to his absence.

“We had a robust discussion,” Varane told Charlotte Harpur. “We told each other some truths, but then I didn’t play for almost two months. I said I didn’t agree with certain ways of doing things regarding the relationship between him and the team.

“It wasn’t something that I thought was good for the team because some of the players weren’t at all satisfied. It was not good in terms of the relationship with the coach.

“He said ‘OK, I hear what you said’ and after that I didn’t play.”

Varane was not the only player subject to Ten Hag

Although Varane made his way back into the team for the remainder of the season, he was not the only player who was subject to the same cold treatment Ten Hag dished out.

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Sancho and Ronaldo, his other 2022 United arrival friends, also received the harsh end of Ten Hag’s management, with the former being frozen out after a public disagreement while Ronaldo saw his contract terminated after speaking out against the manager in an unsanctioned interview.

Although Varane did not feel that the Dutch boss was making an example of him during his period out of the team, he believes Ten Hag chose to act as such on Sancho and Ronaldo as he “wanted to gain respect through fear, perhaps”.

Varane explained: “He always needed an example of a player who was alone the entire time he was at Manchester. He did that with at least one important player on the team. He was always in conflict with certain leaders of the group. That is his way of managing.”

Ten Hag eventually left the club in October 2024 after a poor run of results saw United languishing 13th in the table, although under new boss Rúben Amorim, they now sit 15th.

However, form in the Europa League has improved as the new head coach has helped lift United from 21st to third by the end of the league phase, and the competition has become their only viable route to the Champions League next season.

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