Raphael Varane rips into Man United with brutal Real Madrid comparison and reveals even the players didn't know who was making the decisions

Raphael Varane made a brutal comparison between Manchester United and Real Madrid as he laid bare the problems from top to bottom at Old Trafford.

Varane departed United last summer after his contract expired and won the Carabao Cup and FA Cup during his three-year stay, having joined from Madrid in 2021.

The defender won no less than four Champions League trophies and three LaLiga titles at the Bernabeu while in comparison, United were last crowned Premier League champions in 2013, Sir Alex Ferguson’s final season at the club.

After making the jump from one heavyweight to a fallen giant, Varane was able to witness first-hand the stark differences between the operations at both clubs.

In a damning indictment of United’s owners and leadership team, he even revealed that the players had no idea who was making the decisions internally.

‘From the inside as a player, there wasn’t a clear structure on how things were going to work,’ he told The Athletic. ‘There hasn’t been a fixed methodology for years.

Varane won four Champions League trophies at Madrid before joining United in 2021

Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the Glazers (left, Avram) have been criticised for a host of costly misfires

‘At Madrid, they have a defined way of doing things at every level of the club. 

‘At Manchester (United), it was not clear or defined enough to know how to recruit, how to play, how to communicate. There weren’t the same procedures, processes, structure. It’s not one person’s responsibility. 

‘That’s the problem – we don’t even know whose fault it is. It has to be in the overall structure of the organisation. 

‘There were too many people involved in the decision-making process, so we didn’t know who was really making the decisions. I can’t say who was responsible, I don’t know. It was a bit of everyone and a bit of no one.’

Sir Jim Ratcliffe has led a dramatic overhaul of United’s hierarchy since Ineos acquired a 27.7 per cent stake in the club in May 2024. Omar Berrada was lured from Manchester City to become the CEO while Jason Wilcox was also snapped up.

Dan Ashworth briefly arrived as sporting director before being sacked after 159 days.