Real Madrid formalized Thursday the departure of its coach, the former player of the France team Zinédine Zidane.
Blues defender Raphaël Varane, who played under Zizou in Madrid, greeted Thursday "a great coach and a great person" who came to get him in 2011 when he was a RC Lens player.
"I was able to chat a little bit with him. Of course I hope the rest is good for him."
Merengue defender Raphaël Varane spoke on Thursday, especially at the microphone of Europe 1 on the departure of Zinédine Zidane who was until now his coach at Real Madrid.
"Real Madrid announce that Zinédine Zidane has decided to end his current term as coach of our club," a statement had announced a few hours earlier.
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"A source of inspiration for me"
"He's a great coach and also a great person", continued the defender of the Blues who remembers when the former number 10 of the France team "came to get [him] in Lens to go to Madrid" .
Raphaël Varane emphasizes having "learned a lot, a lot" from a coach whom he describes as "very, very human".
"It's a source of inspiration for me and for a lot of players who have worked with him," he adds.
"A lot of pride"
It was therefore in 2011 that the young Varane joined the Madrid club, spotted by Zidane.
Raphaël Varane assures him of all these years spent at his side: he will keep "a lot of pride".
After a triumphant farewell as a player in 2006, then a first departure from the bench in May 2018, five days after winning an unprecedented treble in the Champions League, Zidane leaves Real this time with a duller record. He hasn't won any titles this season. In Spain, the crown was won last Saturday by Atlético de Madrid.