Real Madrid: 4 cornerstone players for the new era

CB Raphael Varane

Still just 27 years old, Raphael Varane is already a four-time Champions League winner, two-time La Liga winner, and former World Cup champion. He’s essentially won it all and has been the best defender in the world in recent seasons, along with Liverpool’s more-hyped Virgil van Dijk.

Varane tends to fly under the radar because of his consistency, but Madridistas understand his incomparable value. That’s why they want the club to do whatever it can to extend Varane for the foreseeable future, since keeping him in Madrid should be the organization’s top priority.

Brimming with technical class and extremely difficult to beat in the air, Varane is the most complete defender in world football. He sees the game tactically like nobody else, to the point where it’s like having a coach on the field. Varane’s performance in the second half of the 2019-2020 La Liga campaign was particularly impressive, and he has the ability to take even the most dangerous forwards completely out of the game. Just ask FC Barcelona.

Varane will be Real Madrid’s captain of the future when Sergio Ramos retires, and the club couldn’t be in better hands with him starring at the center back position. He is a generational talent.