Raphael Varane addresses claims he made mistake leaving Real Madrid for Manchester United

• Varane insists he has no regrets about trading Real Madrid for Manchester United
• Real Madrid won the La Liga and Champions League double last season in the absence of Varane
• But the Frenchman insists he always welcomes a new challenge and is looking forward to the new season under Ten Hag

French defender Raphael Varane has come out to strongly refute the notion that he made a mistake in joining Manchester United.

The 29-year-old joined United last summer but had a fairly average campaign with the Red Devils that was hampered by injuries.

Notably, Real Madrid continued to thrive after his departure and went on to win the La Liga and Champions League double.

Despite missing out on Los Blancos’ latest success, Varane says he has no regrets about joining United as he “loves a challenge”.

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"In football, you have to challenge yourself and try to improve. I wanted to live another experience after 10 years in the same place.” He said as quoted by BBC.

"The Premier League is absolutely fantastic and Manchester United are a great club. There was no doubt about my decision."

The Frenchman joined Real Madrid in 2011, and went on to win three La Liga titles and four Champions Leagues.

Varane’s United had another disappointing season, finishing sixth on the log, more than 30 points behind league winners and city neighbours Manchester City.

Ahead of the new season, however, the defender is optimistic United has turned a new leaf under new manager Erik Ten Hag.

"The new manager is very positive. He wants this energy and to press high up the pitch, with more space behind our backs. That is maybe more offensive but it is football we really enjoy, so that is a good start." He added.

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Varane on Ronaldo

In the same interview, Varane also addressed the Ronaldo situation at Manchester United.

Ronaldo faces an uncertain future, having made it clear he wants to leave Old Trafford for a club in the Champions League.

But despite some critics saying Ronaldo was partly to blame for United’s slump last season, Varane had a classy rejoinder to them.

"We know his quality. And we know he's very famous. So we know a lot of people will speak about the performance of the team and his performance.

"Cristiano is a great competitor. He's a legend and he always helps the team, so obviously it's very good to play with him."

Sterling on why he joined Chelsea

Elsewhere, Raheem Sterling made an interesting revelation, days after sealing a move to Chelsea.

The former Man City winger moved to west London in a deal worth £47.5 million to become Chelsea's first signing of the summer.

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The ex-Liverpool ace revealed the Chelsea project intrigued him and convinced him to seal the move.

While Man City secured the Premier League last season, Sterling observed Chelsea's own success made him feel the club are headed in the right direction under the tutelage of Thomas Tuchel.