Raphaël Varane Scouting Report

 

Who is he?

Raphaël Varane was born in Lille in the north of France, on the 25th April 1993. He is a centre-back who plays his football for Madrid giants, Real Madrid. He has been playing there ever since his move away from French outfit Lens in 2011. The 21 year old only has 7 international caps to his name for France but he has been a regular starter at this World Cup. He could be compared to as the next Sergio Ramos but one thing that he has that Ramos doesn’t have is discipline.

He started playing for his local football club AS Hellemmes at the age of 7, before joining professional club RC Lens two years later. He was sent to a football training centre nearby where he would train on weekdays and play with Lens at the weekend. He then returned full-time to Lens and it didn’t take him long to progress through the ranks; he became part of a nice looking youth set up which included now Chelsea player Thorgan Hazard.

Style of play – 

Varane is a typical young centre-back as of late. With enough pace to catch up to the more quicker strikers, solid tackling capabilities and immense strength to show his presence on the field. He stands at 6ft 3 inches and he uses his height to his advantage as he has an amazing ability to head the ball away from his own goal and occasionally into the opposing team’s goal.

Playing in Spain it is essential to have an ability to pass the ball. Varane has that. He is a strong passer of the ball and this was shown in France’s 2nd World Cup game where he made a sublime pass to Giroud who assisted their 3rd goal.

Finally as a defender it is key to be able to intercept the ball to break up attacks and to be able to stay with and mark your opponent. Varane does this with ease.

What does his future hold?

Varane is contracted to Real Madrid until 2017 and I can’t see him leaving there any time soon if he keeps up his current form. However if he gets the opportunities like he has done in the past season where he played in the Champions League Final then he could be off on his way. However he is already at the current best team in the world and it would be silly for him to move teams when he is already receiving ample game time. For him, the best thing to do would be to work on and improve his game.

He could be the next world class defender.

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Bernard Scouting Report

 

Who is he?

Bernard Anício Caldeira Duarte was born in Belo Horizonte, on the 8th of September in 1992. He is a winger who plays his trade in Ukraine for Shakhtar Donetsk. The 21 year old already has 13 caps and 1 goal to his name for his native country Brazil. When used for Brazil he is often brought on as a sub for an extra injection of pace into the game. He is often compared to the Argentinian captain Lionel Messi. Mainly due to his extremely close dribbling which allows him to beat players with ease. At times it looks as though he is gliding over the fine cut grass.

As with most Brazilians, Bernard played Football from a young age. In 1997, A 5-year-old Bernard joined local club Comercial EC do Barreiro, where he would play for 9 years. After showing that he had enough promise and quality, Bernard joined the youth academy of his local club – Atletico Mineiro – in 2006, at the age of 14. Due to his small stature, the youngster was sent away by Atletico on 2 occasions, but the club realised their mistake and asked him to return. Interestingly this is where the Messi links come in, Bernard had to receive growth hormone treatment during his childhood, to treat his diminutive size.

Style of Play –

Bernard could be said to be the typical winger who has an abundance of pace and extremely good and tight ball control. However Bernard will give you something extra. Unlike the majority of wingers, Bernard has a lot of energy so doesn’t get tired easily. This allows him to continue making persistent runs at the opposition.

He does not just have pace, energy and good control, he also has the ability to put in a good cross. This allows him to get the odd assist which unfortunately due to a lack of game time he did not pick up last season. However he did manage to score 2 goals for his club.

What does his future hold? 

Well Bernard has only been at the Donbass Arena for one season and he is contracted there until 2018 so there is no chance of him moving any time soon. However he may be wanting to leave Ukraine in the next few years, maybe due to popular demand or maybe due to the domestic violence. I could see him moving to PSG, following in fellow Brazilian Lucas Moura’s footsteps. I could also seem him moving to Chelsea as they often like to buy in bulk for depth.

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