Real Madrid defender Raphael Varane has praised Jose Mourinho for giving him a "kick up the backside" during the Portuguese coach's spell at the Bernabeu.
The Frenchman, who has previously been linked with Chelsea and Manchester United, has claimed that Mourinho stepped in when he was struggling in his second season at Madrid.
"During my second year at Madrid, Jose Mourinho gave me a kick up the backside," Varane told Le Journal du Dimanche. "I wasn't doing well, I wasn't managing to do what he wanted me to out on the pitch.
"So he chided me, saying, 'why don't you run in training?' My first reaction was to mutter, 'oh come on,' but I knew he was right, I had more to give.
"Mourinho doesn't need to give long speeches. He's direct and to the point. What he said to me was for my own good. Without regular pressure like that, I can tend to rest on my laurels."
Mourinho spent three years managing Madrid before returning to Chelsea in 2013.
Danielle Joynson
