Jonathan Raymond François Varane (born 9 September 2001) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for club

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

. Varane plays international football for

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

, qualifying through his Martinique-born father. He made his debut on 11 October 2024, playing 73 minutes of a 0–1 away victory against

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

in a

2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League The 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League was the fourth season of the CONCACAF Nations League, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the 41 member associations of CONCACAF. The competition began with ...

group stage match.

Career

Lens

Varane is a youth product of

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

, having joined the youth academy in 2007. He signed his first professional contract with the club on 18 May 2021. He made his professional debut with Lens in a 3–2

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

loss to

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

on 10 December 2021, coming on as a sub in the 90+2 minute.

Loan to Rodez

On 24 January 2022, Varane joined

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

Rodez Rodez (, , ; , ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the communau ...

on loan until the end of the season. He played six times for the club as they narrowly avoided relegation.

Sporting Gijón

On 24 August 2022, Varane signed with Spanish club

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

, being initially assigned to the reserves in

Tercera Federación Tercera Federación, previously known as Tercera RFEF, is the fifth tier of the Spanish football league system. It is below the ''La Liga'', ''Segunda División'', and its fellow semi-professional divisions '' Primera Federación'' and ''Segunda F ...

. He made his first team debut on 3 January of the following year, replacing Nacho Martín in a 2–0 home win over

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

, for the season's

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. After the arrival of

Miguel Ángel Ramírez Miguel Ángel Ramírez Medina (born 23 October 1984) is a Spanish football manager. Career Early career Born in Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Ramírez joined UD Las Palmas' youth categories in 2003, from AD Claret. In 2011 he moved to Greece, init ...

as manager, Varane started to feature more regularly with the first team. On 31 May 2023, he signed a new contract with the club until 2027, being definitely promoted to the main squad.

Queens Park Rangers

On 4 August 2024, Varane signed for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

club

for an undisclosed fee. On 10 August, he made his debut for the club, as a substitute, in a 3-1 loss against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in the league.

Personal life

Varane is of Martiniquais descent through his father. He is the half brother of former French international footballer

Raphaël Varane Raphaël Xavier Varane (; born 25 April 1993) is a French former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Varane played for French club RC Lens, Lens at youth level and, ahead of the 2010–11 in French footba ...

Career statistics

References

External links

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RC Lens Footeo profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Varane, Jonathan 2001 births Living people Footballers from Lille French men's footballers French people of Martiniquais descent Men's association football midfielders RC Lens players Rodez AF players Sporting de Gijón B players Sporting de Gijón players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Championnat National 2 players Championnat National 3 players Segunda División players Tercera Federación players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England French expatriate sportspeople in England 21st-century French sportsmen