Varane reveals United snub

Cape Town - Raphael Varane had "one foot at Manchester United" before joining Real Madrid in 2011 according to Jose Mourinho.

According to the Daily Mail, France defender  Raphael Varane had the choice of three clubs to join in 2011.

Mourinho revealed that Varane was close to sealing a transfer to Old Trafford before Zinedine Zidane stepped in to persuade the young star to reject Manchester United in favour of Real Madrid.

Varane was asked by French newspaper L'Equipe why he chose to join Real Madrid.

Sir Alex Ferguson's decision to sign Phil Jones at the same time as he was chasing Varane backfired on the Old Trafford club.

"Manchester United? They had just signed Phil Jones in my position." said Varane.

Varane also revealed that PSG wanted to sign him but he was unconvinced by the seriousness of the club at the time.

"PSG? The project there wasn't clear. The Qataris had only just arrived and it was all very vague."

Varane wanted to play first team football and this was the main reason why he opted to join Real Madrid.

"My first reaction when Real wanted to sign me was not, "Of course I will go". I only made my decision when I knew that the coach wanted me to play in the first team."