REAL MADRID
Real Madrid's 'class' applauded by Lens over Varane bonus
Martel said after Real Madrid won their third Champions League title, he sent them an email and they paid a bonus they were not obliged to.
Gervais Martel, the former president of RC Lens, spoke to RMC Sport and spoke about Raphael Varane's transfer from the French club to Real Madrid. The French defender, who Zidane asked the club to sign, arrived from Lens in 2011 for €10 million plus add-ons.
It was about these bonuses that Martel spoke on the French radio station. "Mourinho and Zidane called," he said. "Others teams called after, offering a lot more, but when I give my word, I give my word. It was €10 million plus a bonus. They won two Champions League and there was a bonus."
"The third year, there was no bonus," he continued. "But I thought I'd send them an email. 'Hey, listen, it's true that the contract says...'. I sent it and they paid. That is classy."
Focused Varane didn't have time for transfer talk
Varane, who was wanted by clubs such as Arsenal, Juventus and Real Madrid was in the middle of his college exams at the time of the interest, did not want to be distracted by speculation. "Varane was going for his college entrance ezams," Martel said. "He was eating alone and I said to him that a club called. 'At noon, I have an oral axamination, I'll do my best in that and after we will talk,' he told me."
Varane has been worth the money spent on him too. He is currently 26 and has won a World Cup, four Champions Leagues, two LaLiga titles, one Copa del Ray, four Club World Cup, two Spanish Super Cups and three European Super Cups. Maybe that's why Real Madrid didn't mind coughing up the bonues they were not obliged to send to Lens.