Why Real Madrid sold Varane to Manchester United – Thierry Henry

Former Arsenal striker, Thierry Henry has suggested that Real Madrid decided to sell defender, Raphael Varane to Manchester United due to a ‘knee issue’.

Recall that Varane won 18 trophies during his 10-year stint at Real Madrid and left the club for Man United in the summer of 2021.

Henry also praised Real Madrid for their ability to build and maintain a successful team by keeping some of the old guard and allowing young players to learn from them.

The former Barcelona star pointed out that if Madrid are able to sign Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain and keep their current young players, they could dominate Europe for many years to come.

“There is one thing you have to give them [Real Madrid] a lot of credit for, the ability they have to make sure they build a team with keeping some of the old guard with them to make sure that they can explain to the guys coming, the young guys coming,” Henry told CBS Sports.

“If you look at it, if Mbappe goes there, they are going to have a team that can be dominating Europe and dominating their league for maybe six to seven years because they will all be young- Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, Valverde, Tchouameni.

“The one thing they do ever so well is they know when to get rid of players.

“I am not talking about the players that are logical to get rid of. I am talking about it was time for Ronaldo. It was time for Casemiro. It was time for Ozil. It was time for Varane, which was more, I think, of a knee issue, if I understand well.”