The Dutch coach earned a one-year extension to his deal after last season's FA Cup win but was sacked last October after an awful start to the season - and the defender was shocked that the manager was granted a stay of execution by the Old Trafford hierarchy because he had a fractured relationship with the squad.

In an interview with The Athletic, Varane said: "I was surprised he stayed. The connection with the group no longer existed."

The French international, who retired from the game after leaving United last summer, admits that he had a complicated relationship with Ten Hag after being dropped to the bench for much of last season without an explanation from the coach.

Varane recalled: "We had a robust discussion. We told each other some truths, but then I didn't play for almost two months. I said I didn't agree with certain ways of doing things regarding the relationship between him and the team.

"It wasn't something that I thought was good for the team because some of the players weren't at all satisfied. It was not good in terms of the relationship with the coach.

"He said, 'OK, I hear what you said', and after that I didn't play."

Varane had been keen to stay at United but decided to move on after realising that he and the club weren't on the same page when it came to his future.

The World Cup winner - who briefly signed for Serie A outfit Como before calling time on his career - said: "I didn't know who the coach would be. I didn't know if they wanted to change the squad a lot or not. I had no visibility, so it's difficult to commit when you don't know exactly what you're committing to.

"At (Real) Madrid, they have a defined way of doing things at every level of the club. At Manchester [United], it was not clear or defined enough to know how to recruit, how to play, how to communicate. There weren't the same procedures, processes, structure."