Raphaël Varane has just announced his retirement from sport, at only 31 years old, confirming information from Le Parisien this Wednesday.
The body had not been following for months. At only 31 years old, Raphael Varane announced his retirement on Wednesday, September 25. The footballer, who played for Lille, Real and the French team, had tried in recent months to get back on track in Como, Italy, to try to finish his rich but short career there. But incessant knee problems have only allowed him to play one match with the club he joined this summer.
In a long message posted by Raphaël Varane on his Instagram account, the player remembers “the incredible emotions, special moments and memories that will last a lifetime” that football has given him. “Reflecting on these moments, it is with immense pride and a sense of accomplishment that I announce my retirement from the game we all love,” the former defender wrote.
We lost sight of Raphaël Varane in 2022, after his last appearances in Blue during the Football World Cup in Qatar. Uncertainties about his physical condition and intense media hype had accompanied the competition, which was nevertheless convincing despite the failure in the final against Argentina. The central defender, “leader” of the Blues with whom he had played for almost a decade, had announced a few months later that he was ending his international career.
Raphaël Varane had indeed announced his international retirement in February 2023, via a long message posted on Instagram. Indicating that he had been thinking about it for “several months”, he then judged that “the right time” had come to step away and take it easy. The 2018 world champion had decided to devote himself mainly to his development at his club (at Manchester United at the time). A choice that had already been made before him Karim BenzemaHugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda.
Early physical wear and tear
It must be said that Raphaël Varane had achieved the almost unthinkable by returning from injury just before the 2022 World Cup. The defender’s very heavy efforts to put his recalcitrant hamstrings back in place had left a deep mark on him. The defender’s incessant injuries, particularly to his knees, required increasingly long recovery phases, not really compatible with the intensive pace that high level training entails.
Le Parisien thus mentioned last year “a certain form of physical and psychological wear and tear”, a need to spend more time with his loved ones, but also the desire to make way for the next generation. At the time of Raphaël Varane’s complete retirement, the daily newspaper believes today that “he has therefore ended up understanding that his body could not take it anymore and has ended up accepting the evidence”.
“During my career, I have taken on many challenges, I have taken on challenges, almost all of which were supposed to be impossible,” he wrote on Instagram. Faced with the last of these challenges, he has this time decided to throw in the towel, for good. “I want to come out strong, not just hang on to the game. It takes a big dose of courage to listen to your heart and your instincts. Wants and needs are two different things. I have fallen and resurrected a thousand times, and this time, it is time to stop and hang up my boots,” he continues. Raphaël Varane assures that a “new life begins off the field”. “I will stay with Côme. Just without using my boots. Something I look forward to sharing more soon.” To be continued all the same.