The French centre-back could retire at Old Trafford (Picture: Getty Images)

Manchester United centre-back Raphael Varane says he has begun to think about his retirement from club football and could hang up his boots at any of three teams.

Following France’s World Cup final defeat to Argentina in Qatar, the 29-year-old took the somewhat surprising decision to retire from international football despite his relatively young age.

Varane said at the time that he felt like he was ‘suffocating’ from the volume of games he was being asked to play and hit out at the ‘overloaded’ schedule.

The Frenchman hopes his decision will extend his club career, though he has nevertheless begun turning his thoughts towards hanging up his boots for good and has now opened the door to the possibility of returning to Lens – where his career began – or Real Madrid should he decide to leave United.

In an interview with the French edition of GQ Magazine, Varane was asked if he might end his career at Old Trafford and replied that it is ‘a serious option’.

He then continued: ‘I will finish my career either in Madrid, or in Manchester, or in Lens. I will not move to another club [other than those].

‘But Madrid seems complicated to me. Players don’t usually go back there. The most likely outcome today is that I will finish [my club career] in either Manchester or Lens.’

Varane retired from international duty earlier this year (Picture: Getty)

On when he might hang up his boots, Varane added: ‘The closer your get to 30, the more you think about it.’

Reflecting on his much-improved second season at United, and the reasons behind his international retirement, Varane continued: ‘This season is going well because I had a full pre-season! When was the last time that happened for me?

‘Recent seasons have always finished later and started earlier. We didn’t have time to work physically and when we weren’t playing we only had time for recovery.

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‘You can do this for a few seasons but after a while you either crash, or you are unrecognisable [from the player you were] for six months or a year in the field, or you get injured.

‘That’s what happens to all great players and that’s what I want to avoid.’

He added: ‘I am afraid that we are witnessing much shorter careers and that players will have to give up playing for the France team very early because physically and mentally what we are asking today is simply beyond our limits.’

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The French centre-back has begun thinking about his retirement plans.