Varane: "To play at the highest level is like washing machine, you never stop"

'We have overloaded schedules and play non-stop. Right now, I feel like I’m suffocating and that [Varane] the player is gobbling up [Varane] the man,' the 29-year-old said.

Manchester United and former French national team defender Raphael Varane who announced his retirement on Thursday, said that he took the decision in order to cope with football’s overloaded schedule.

'I gave everything, physically and mentally. But the very highest level is like a washing machine, you play all the time and you never stop,' Varane said in an interview with Canal+, as per the Daily Mail.

'We have overloaded schedules and play non-stop. Right now, I feel like I'm suffocating and that [Varane] the player is gobbling up [Varane] the man,' the 29-year-old added.

This is the third high profile retirement from the French squad after striker Karim Benzema and Hugo Lloris had announced their decision to step away from national duty recently.

The 2018 World Cup winner has 93 caps for France after making his debut in 2013, and also helped Didier Deschamps's side win the UEFA Nations League in the 2020-21 season.

“Representing our beautiful country for a decade has been one of the greatest honours of my life,” Varane had said in a statement. “Every time I wore that special blue jersey I felt an immense sense of pride, the duty to give everything, to play with my heart and to win every time we took the field. I've been thinking about it for several months and I decided that it was the right time for me to retire from international football.”

“Raphael called me a few days ago to explain that he wanted to end his international career. He's an intelligent boy who knows how to take the time to think about it and weigh up the pros and cons before deciding,” France coach Deschamps said.

“Raphael believes he has reached the end of his adventure with the French team. I've been in a similar situation to him, I understand his arguments and respect his decision.