Raphaël Varane/import

Raphaël Varane (born 25 April 1993) is a French international footballer who plays for Spanish club Real Madrid in La Liga. He primarily plays as a central defender. Varane is a France youth international having earned caps at under-18 and under-21 level. He previously played for French club Lens and, ahead of the 2010–11 season, began training with the senior team and appeared on the bench in several league matches. On 7 November 2010, Varane made his professional debut in a league match against Montpellier. Varane has been described by Lens youth coach Eric Assadourian as a "truly first class player" who is "comfortable on both the tactical and technical level". Since breaking into the first team at Real Madrid, Varane has emerged as one of Europe's finest young central defenders.

In January 2014, he was named by The Guardian as one of the ten most promising young players in Europe.