Jose Mourinho approached Raphael Varane to make summer reunion at Manchester United

Real Madrid star Raphael Varane turned down a lucrative offer to reunite with Jose Mourinho at Manchester United during the current transfer window, according to Cope. The Spanish radio station claims that the Portuguese boss personally called the Frenchman to convince him to move to Old Trafford by doubling his wages, but the centre-back decided instead to remain at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Mourinho brought Varane to Real Madrid in the summer of 2011 as one for the future. The defender was expected to be only a back-up for Sergio Ramos and Pepe but eventually became a crucial player for the Portuguese tactician.

The 23-year-old has failed to establish himself at the Bernabeu since the departure of Mourinho to Chelsea, remaining as an understudy under both Carlo Ancelotti and Zinedine Zidane.

The player was heavily linked with a move to Chelsea during Mourinho's tenure at Stamford Bridge. Yet the boss failed then to diminish the talk, openly praising the player while once naming him as the best young centre-back in the world.

Last summer Real Madrid president Florentino Perez revealed that Louis van Gaal tried to lure him to United, along with Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema.

Yet, reports about a potential switch to Old Trafford has increased since Mourinho took over from the Dutch manager.

Reports in Spain even before his appointment claimed that the Portuguese boss wanted to make Varane his first United signing. However, the former Chelsea manager instead opted to sign Eric Bailly from Villarreal to bolster the heart of his back-line.

Yet, it has been said since that the United are still on the hunt for another centre-back amid the uncertain future of the likes of Phil Jones and Daley Blind.

Now Cope journalist Paco Gonzalez, one of the most reliable in Spain in Real Madrid issues, has claimed that during the summer Mourinho called Varane to convince the Frenchman to reunite with him at Old Trafford.

Gonzalez failed to address whether that call was before or after Bailly's signing but added that the United boss tempted Varane by doubling his current wages at Real Madrid.

The France international is said to be under a €5m (£4.2m, $5.6m)-a-year at Los Blancos and United reportedly offered him around €10m, meaning around €192.000-a-week. However, following a conversation with Zinedine Zidane, Varane decided to snub the United proposal to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu.