Raphaël Varane

Early career

Varane began his football career in the Arrondissement of Lille playing for local club Hellemmes at the age of seven. After spending two years at the club, in July 2002, he joined professional club Lens, despite some interest from Derby du Nord rivals and hometown club Lille. Similar to the development of the club's previous prized assets such as Gaël Kakuta and Timothée Kolodziejczak, Varane spent time at the Centre de Préformation de Football in nearby Liévin, a training centre exclusively for players brought up in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region. He spent two years at the centre training there during the weekdays and playing with Lens on the weekends. After returning full-time to Lens, Varane quickly ascended up the club's youth ranks. In the 2008–09 season, alongside teammates Thorgan Hazard and Geoffrey Kondogbia, he played on the club's under-16 team that won the Championnat National des 16 ans. In the following season, Varane was promoted to the club's under-19 team, despite being two years younger than several of his teammates. Ahead of the 2010–11 season, Varane signed his first professional contract. He was, subsequently, promoted to the club's reserve team in the Championnat de France amateur. Varane made his amateur debut in the club's opening league match of the campaign in a 2–0 victory over Drancy. He appeared as a starter in the club's next nine matches with the team losing only one of them.

Lens

In late October of the campaign,…

Youth

Varane was a France youth international having earned caps at under-18, under-20 and under-21 levels. Prior to playing for the under-18 team, he was called up to the under-17 team but did not make an appearance. Varane made his debut with the under-18 team on 24 August 2010 in a friendly match against Denmark. On his debut, he scored the final goal in a 2–0 victory. Varane turned down subsequent call-ups to the under-18 team because of his increased participation with the Lens first team and, as a result, missed the Tournoi de Limoges and a tournament in Israel. On 3 February 2011, he was called up to the under-21 team by coach Erick Mombaerts for the first time for a friendly match against Slovakia. Varane described the call up as "a huge surprise". He earned his first under-21 cap and start in the match against Slovakia playing the entire match in a 3–1 win. On 15 November, Varane scored his first under-21 goal in a 2–0 2013 Euro U-21 qualifying win over Slovakia. The victory ensured France qualification to at least the competition's qualifying play-offs.

Senior

In August 2012, Varane was called up to the France national team for a friendly against Uruguay, but was an unused substitute. He started his first match for France on 22 March 2013 in a qualifier for the World Cup against Georgia, a 3–1 victory. On 13 May 2014, he was included in Didier Deschamps' squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On 15 June 2014, he partnered Mamadou Sakho in central…

Varane was described by Lens youth coach Éric Assadourian as a "truly first-class player" who was "comfortable on both the tactical and technical level." On 30 January 2013, the then-Real Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka talked about Varane in the press conference post-El Clásico of the Copa del Rey, saying, "It's obvious that Varane has a good head on his shoulders and will keep improving." Varane's height made him effective in the air, while his confidence on the ball allowed him to evade the opposing team's press and start attacking plays from the back with his passing. Former France defender Frank Leboeuf believed that Varane had the potential to be better than Real Madrid legend Fernando Hierro, saying to reporters, "Many compare him to Hierro due to his technique, but on the physical level he is stronger and he is much faster." Both Hierro and José Mourinho labelled Varane as one of the best defenders in world football.

Raphaël Xavier Varane was born on 25 April 1993 in the city of Lille in the Nord department. He is of Martiniquais heritage through his father, Gaston, who is originally from Le Morne-Rouge, while his mother, Annie, was raised in Saint-Amand-les-Eaux.