Former Manchester United defender Raphael Varane has revealed that his relationship with Erik ten Hag during their time together at the Theatre of Dreams was “complicated at times.”
Varane arrived in England from Real Madrid in the summer of 2021, one year before United engaged the services of Ten Hag. The former French international endured his fair share of conflicts with the Dutch manager.
However, his well publicized spat with Cristiano Ronaldo and Jadon Sancho garnered more attention in the media. Ten Hag’s feud with Ronaldo and Sancho resulted in both players leaving United for Al Nassr and Chelsea respectively.
Like Ronaldo and Sancho, Varane also spent time on the sidelines following a dispute with Ten Hag. Despite being a key part of the Dutchman’s preferred defense when fit, he was unexpectedly left out of the starting XI early in the 2023/2024 season.
In an exclusive interview with The Athletic, Varane opened up on the nature of his and the United squad’s relationship with the former Ajax manager, revealing that his time on the sidelines was as a result of divergent views.
“It’s hard to find the right words,” Varane said of that spell.
“It was very tense at times. Sometimes he made an effort to listen to the players’ feedback, sometimes he made decisions without listening to the players’ feelings. So there were ups and downs. It was complicated at times.
“We had a robust discussion, 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 were not at all satisfied. It was not good in terms of the relationship with the coach.”
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