By Emmanuel Adeleke
Paris Saint Germain striker, Kylian Mbappe, may become the France national team captain after Manchester United center back, Raphael Varane announced his retirement from international football on Thursday.
The 29-year-old Varane, who won the World Cup in 2018, scored five goals in 93 appearances for his country after making his debut in 2013.
The last of his caps was in the 2022 World Cup final in Qatar, in which France were beaten by Argentina on penalties.
“Representing our great country for a decade has been one of the greatest honours of my life.
“Every time I wore this very special blue jersey I felt immense pride. The duty to give it all, play my heart out and win every time we put it on the field.
“I’ve been contemplating this for several months and deciding it’s the right time for me to retire internationally,” Varane said.
Varane, who signed for Manchester United from Real Madrid in August 2021, has become the latest Les Bleus player to retire after the World Cup.
In January, Tottenham goalkeeper and captain, Hugo Lloris stepped down three weeks after the world cup final .
Varane had been expected to take over the captaincy from Lloris, but Mbappe who won the Golden Boot at the World Cup after scoring eight times is expected to be made France captain.
Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema who was ruled out of the World Cup in Qatar due to injury also retired from international duties shortly after his country’s loss to Argentina.
Mbappe is the current assistant captain at star-studded PSG and the 24-year-old could lead Didier Deschamps’ side on the pitch during the international break in March.
