Wes Brown exclusive: 'Would Raphael Varane have got into our Manchester United team? No, we had Rio and Vidic'

Few defenders over the past 30 years can match ex-Manchester United star Wes Brown when it comes to honours. The Englishman claimed five Premier League titles, two Champions Leagues, two FA Cups and two League Cups across a glittering 13-year spell at Old Trafford, before leaving for Sunderland in 2011. 

Yet there is one defender in the current United side that can-medal Brown. Raphael Varane's own haul includes three La Ligas, four Champions Leagues and the World Cup. Yet there is a feeling among the Red Devils fanbase that the Frenchman has struggled to show his best form since joining from Real Madrid in 2021. 

"He's been a class act in the past," Brown tells FourFourTwo on behalf of luckyblock.com. "He's won many trophies for club and country. At Manchester United, people might have thought he's have come in and been a little bit better, but I do think, when he has played this season he's done OK.

"When I played centre-back during my career, I always found it harder when it wasn't a proper partnership.  To be fair, injuries haven't helped. But listen, he's still there and he's still got it. He's not as good as he was in his Real Madrid days, or why would they have sold him? But he's still a class act and he has a good partnership with Lisandro Martinez. But it's just that that partnership hasn't been given a real chance over the past couple of seasons."

Brown played alongside some of the greatest defenders in United's history, including Jaap Stam, Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, Patrice Evra and Gary Neville. Would Varane have nailed down a place in those sides?

"If you're talking about my day, no," Brown explains. "We had prime Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic – we wouldn't have needed him. They were almost always fit and they had that natural understanding.

"Gerard Pique was also there, as backup, as well as the likes of Johnny Evans, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling. There was a hierarchy and  different partnerships within that group that complimented each other. United don't seem to have enough of that at the moment. 

"Partnerships are key in football. Not just in defence but all over the pitch. I just don't think Varane's quite had that."

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