Newcastle were actually urged to sign £41m Man United player years ago

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Newcastle United used to always do their shopping in France, so much so that they actually had a French Day at St James’ Park once upon a time.

When Alan Pardew was manager of Newcastle, a lot of his top players were French. The likes of Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sissoko were instrumental under his guidance, having been drafted in for bargain fees.

That is because of Graham Carr, who was the club’s chief scout at the time. He had a keen eye for talent, particularly in France.

Carr helped Newcastle sign some amazing players for relatively cheap fees, before Mike Ashley inevitably sold them on for a massive profit.

However, there were some players who the Magpies actually missed out on signing, despite Carr’s recommendation – one of which was Raphael Varane.

Newcastle were told to sign Raphael Varane by Graham Carr

In an interview with iNews, Carr has discussed some of the players he suggested Newcastle should sign, only for the club to miss out on bringing them to St James’ Park.

One of them was Varane. The report states that he was just 17-years-old at the time, but Carr told club official Derek Llambias that Newcastle simply needed to sign this teenage centre-back from Lens.

Of course, Newcastle did not sign Varane. Instead, he would join Real Madrid in June 2011 when he was 18.

In Spain, Varane proved why Carr was so eager to bring him to St James’ Park. He spent 10 years at the Santiago Bernabeu, where he won three league titles, four Champions Leagues, four World Club Cups and more.

Varane is also a World Cup winner, and now plays for Manchester United after arriving for £41million in 2021.

The centre-back has had an elite career, but it could have been oh so different had he joined Newcastle 13 years ago.

He is certainly one that got away, and is the type of signing that the Newcastle owners and Dan Ashworth would love to make right now as they build for the future.