Get the United transfer latest, team news, match updates and analysis delivered straight to your inbox every day for free Sir Alex Ferguson met Raphael Varane's mother in an attempt to bring the defender to Manchester United ten years ago.
United wanted to sign Varane from Lens when he was 18 but the Real Madrid sporting director Zinedine Zidane telephoned Varane personally and persuaded him to move to Spain.
Varane was United's principle defensive target that summer yet Ferguson had to settle with Phil Jones, a £16million addition from Blackburn Rovers.
Ferguson once remarked 'the mother's the secret in securing signings. "The mothers are always the strong [ones] in the family, without question.
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