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Varane: I turned down United ... because of Phil Jones

Real Madrid's Raphael Varane said he turned down a move to Manchester United because he would have faced competition for his place from Phil Jones.

The France international was a target for Sir Alex Ferguson in 2011 when he was still only 18.

But Varane said he opted not to move to Old Trafford when Ferguson brought in England international Jones from Blackburn Rovers for £16.5 million.

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Instead, he left Lens for Real Madrid, where he has gone to win La Liga in 2012 and the Champions League in 2014.

"Manchester United? They had just signed Phil Jones in my position," Varane told L'Equipe.

The centre-back was also wanted by Paris Saint-Germain, who were just beginning to invest heavily, but said Jose Mourinho convinced him to move to Real.

He added: "The project [at PSG] wasn't clear. The Qataris had only just arrived and it was all very vague.

"My first reaction when Real wanted to sign me was not, 'Of course I will go'. I only made my decision when I knew that the coach wanted me to play in the first team."

While Varane credited Mourinho, who was then in charge of Real, for persuading him to go to Spain, the Portuguese has also said that Zinedine Zidane helped convince his fellow Frenchman it was the right move.

Varane signed a new contract at Real last month to keep him at the Bernabeu until 2020 and has established himself in the France team that reached the last eight of the World Cup, when he was shortlisted for the award of the tournament's best young player.

Meanwhile, Jones has featured regularly for United over the past three years in between several injuries, but his appearances have been divided between games at centre-back, right-back and in midfield.

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