Bayern Munich passed up the opportunity to sign Raphael Varane for just €5m when he was 18-years-old.
Varane was playing for RC Lens at the time when Bayern were presented with the opportunity to sign the young centre-back.
However, the club decided to pass on the young French defender, who then made the move to Real Madrid.
Speaking about the missed opportunity in signing Varane as quoted in Fussball Transfers, Bayern chief Willy Sagnol said:
“One day a friend called me and said, “You absolutely have to take a look at a super-interesting young player. I immediately saw how mature Varane was.
“When I passed everything on to the club, I was told that he was still too expensive for an 18-year-old. Two months later Varane went to Real Madrid for €10 million.”
The German giants chose to sign a then 22-year-old Jerome Boateng from Manchester City in defence instead of the young Varane in that transfer window.
Bayern must certainly rue their missed opportunity in signing Varane who would have starred for the club for years to come.
However, Bayern’s loss turned into Real Madrid’s gain, as Varane went on to produce stellar performances for Real, both domestically and in the Champions League.
Varane has since gone on to become one of the best centre-backs in world football since then and has won the Champions League four times with Real Madrid and has also won the 2018 FIFA World Cup with France.