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Manchester United €25m target: Mourinho gave me a “kick up in the a**”

Jose Mourinho is more comfortable working with ready made stars than grooming a young raw talent and refining him into a world class player. However, the Portuguese can take great credit for the part he played in the development of Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane. Mourinho signed him from French club Lens in 2011 when he was only 17 years old.

The Chelsea boss was so impressed with his talent that he drafted him into the first team straightaway in expense of experienced defender Pepe.

In his second season for Los Blancos, Varane made 33 appearances for the club in all competitions.