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 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, Varane was called up to the senior team by manager
Jean-Guy Wallemme to train ahead of the club's match against
Montpellier on 6 November. He trained with the team for the entire week and, due to an injury to
centre-back Alaeddine Yahia, Varane was, surprisingly, named to the starting line-up. In the match, he played the full 90 minutes in a 2–0 victory. In the next two matches, Varane, alongside several other youth players, sat on the bench as Lens faced two tough teams in
Marseille and
Lyon. He returned to the starting line-up on 30 November in a 4–1 defeat to
Brest. Despite the firing of Wallemme following the Brest match, Varane remained a starter in the team under new manager
László Bölöni. In December, with both Chelle and Yahia returning to action, Varane was placed in the defensive midfielder role in the team's match against
Bordeaux. In the match, he acted as a roving third centre-back and made a blocked save in the 84th minute on a close range shot by
Yoan Gouffran to preserve a 2–1 lead. However, in the latter stages of the match, Bordeaux equalized to draw the match at 2–2. In early 2011, Varane was the subject of transfer speculation linking him to several clubs. In an effort to quell the interest, on 3 February 2011, he signed a two-year contract extension with Lens until 2015. On 8 May, Varane scored his first professional goal in a 1–1 draw with
Caen. In the team's following match against
Monaco, he scored the equalizing goal in another 1–1 draw. Despite the goal, the stalemate condemned Lens to relegation back to Ligue 2 after two seasons in the top division. On 21 May, Varane captained Lens in its 1–0 defeat to
Arles-Avignon.
Real Madrid 2011–12: Signing and La Liga win in 2011 On 22 June 2011, Lens president
Gervais Martel confirmed to a group of supporters at a club meeting that Varane would be joining
La Liga club
Real Madrid. Varane had previously visited Real Madrid's club facilities and also met with club advisor and compatriot
Zinedine Zidane. On 27 June, the move was confirmed by Real Madrid after Varane passed his medical. Varane signed a six-year contract with the club. Varane was assigned the number 19 shirt and made his club debut for Real Madrid in the club's opening pre-season fixture against American outfit
Los Angeles Galaxy in the
2011 World Football Challenge. He appeared as a half-time substitute as Real Madrid cruised to a 4–1 win. Varane made his first start for the club four days later in a 3–0 win over Mexican club
Guadalajara. He finished the pre-season campaign appearing in seven of the eight pre-season matches Real Madrid contested. Varane made his competitive debut for Real Madrid on 21 September in the team's league match against
Racing Santander. He started the match at centre-back alongside
Ricardo Carvalho as the match ended 0–0. In the team's next league match three days later against
Rayo Vallecano, Varane started and scored his first goal for the club after a flying back-heel shot following a
Mesut Özil corner. Real Madrid won the match 6–2. Varane's goal made him the youngest foreign player at 18 years and 152 days to score a goal in a competitive match for Real Madrid. On 27 September, he made his
UEFA Champions League debut in a 3–0 group stage win over Dutch club
Ajax. Two months later, Varane made his second Champions League appearance against Croatian club
Dinamo Zagreb. In the match, Varane started and assisted on the team's fifth goal, scored by
José Callejón, in a 6–2 win. The victory ensured Real Madrid first place in its group.
2012–2016: First-team regular, UEFA Champions League wins Ahead of the
2012–13 season, Varane switched to the number 2 shirt. After failing to appear in Real Madrid's first four league matches, he made his season debut on 18 September in the club's opening UEFA Champions League group stage match against English club
Manchester City. Varane started and played the entire match as Real Madrid won 3–2. On 30 January 2013, Varane made his
El Clásico debut against
Barcelona in the
2012–13 Copa del Rey. He stopped a group of dangerous attempts from Barcelona, including a shot from
Xavi that he cleared from the goal line. He capped his performance with a headed goal in the game, which ended 1–1. He also became the second-youngest foreign player to score for Real Madrid in a Clásico match. In the return leg at the
Camp Nou on 26 February 2013, Varane scored Madrid's third goal in a 3–1 away win with a header from a corner kick by Mesut Özil. Varane gained praise from former World Cup winner
Bixente Lizarazu after his performances against Barcelona and
Manchester United. He said, "We are talking about a kid at Real Madrid who has unseated
Pepe, and Pepe, with all his stuff, is still a great centre-half. His performance against Manchester United and Barcelona was extraordinary". Varane continued to impress in the
Champions League quarter final first leg against
Galatasaray, where he helped Madrid keep a clean sheet in a 3–0 triumph. All of his 27 passes found his teammates without any interception, and all of his tackles succeeded, with most on
Didier Drogba. In April 2013, Varane was named by
Marca readers as a member of the "Best foreign eleven in
Real Madrid's history". On 14 May 2013, Varane successfully underwent an operation on his right knee after an injury he had picked up during his last 2012–13 league match against
Real Sociedad. Varane came on as an injury-time substitute for
Karim Benzema in the
2014 Copa del Rey Final which Real Madrid won 2–1 against Barcelona on 16 April. He played all 120 minutes of Real Madrid's 4–1 win over
Atlético Madrid in the
2014 UEFA Champions League Final, in place of the more experienced Pepe. In added time at the end of extra time, after
Cristiano Ronaldo scored the last goal, Varane kicked the ball towards Atlético manager
Diego Simeone, causing him to run onto the pitch in anger. Simeone was sent to the stands and Varane booked for the incident. After the game, Atlético captain
Gabi excused Varane due to his youth, while Simeone himself said, "I also made a mistake with my reaction. He's a young guy with a bright future." On 18 September 2014, Varane signed a new six-year contract to keep him at Real Madrid until 2020. He was a part-time squad player when the team won the
2015–16 UEFA Champions League.
2016–2021: Continued success in 2019 Despite having a few injuries during the season, he made 23 appearances, when Madrid won the 2016–17 La Liga. He was starting in the
final when Madrid won the
2016–17 UEFA Champions League. Varane's contract was extended until 2022 on 27 September 2017. During the
2017–18 UEFA Champions League, he made eleven appearances, when Madrid won their 13th Champions League title and completed a hattrick of
UCL titles under
Zinedine Zidane. Following his club and international performances throughout the year, he was included in the 30-man shortlist for the
2018 Ballon d'Or, finishing in seventh place in the final ranking. He was also placed ninth in
The Best FIFA Men's Player behind
Kevin De Bruyne, and was elected as the starting centre-back for both the 2018
FIFPRO Men's World 11 and the
UEFA Team of the Year. During the
2018–19 season, he made 43 appearances, while winning the
2018 FIFA Club World Cup. He was a regular starter during the following league season, as Real Madrid won the
2019–20 La Liga title. During the
Champions League, Madrid were eliminated in the round of 16 by Manchester City. In the second leg at the
City of Manchester Stadium,
Manchester, Madrid lost the game 2–1, with Varane being deemed to be at fault for both goals. He would later issue an apology for his mistakes.
Manchester United in 2021 On 27 July 2021, it was announced that
Manchester United and Real Madrid had reached an agreement for Varane's transfer, subject to a medical and to player terms being finalised. The transfer was completed on 14 August 2021, after Varane was announced in front of a packed
Old Trafford crowd ahead of United's
Premier League opener against
Leeds United. He was given the number 19 shirt previously worn by
Amad Diallo, which he also donned during his first season with Real Madrid. He made his debut on 29 August 2021 and contributed an assist to the winning goal in a 1–0 win away against
Wolverhampton Wanderers. On 2 May 2022, Varane scored his first goal for the club in a 3–0 league win against
Brentford. On 22 October 2022, Varane suffered a leg injury in a Premier League match against Chelsea. United manager
Erik ten Hag said in a press conference on 26 October that the injury would rule Varane out of all of the club's matches ahead of the break for the
2022 FIFA World Cup, leaving his chances of being selected in the France squad for the tournament uncertain. On 26 February 2023, Raphaël Varane won his first trophy with United as he took place in the starting line-up in the
EFL Cup final against
Newcastle United at
Wembley, which Manchester United won 2–0. On 14 August 2023, Varane scored the winning goal in Manchester United's first game of the
2023–24 season in a 1–0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers. On 14 May 2024, Varane announced that he would depart the club at the end of the season as a
free agent. On 25 May 2024, Varane made his final appearance for the
Red Devils, lifting the
FA Cup after a 2–1
victory against local rivals
Manchester City at Wembley. In total, he made 95 appearances for United and scored two goals.
Como and retirement On 28 July 2024, it was announced that
Serie A club
Como signed Varane on a two-year deal with an option to extend. On 11 August, he sustained a knee injury in the first half of a
Coppa Italia match against
Sampdoria, his first match with the club. Later that month, he was excluded from the club's Serie A squad list. He announced his retirement on 25 September 2024. ==International career==