after first playing football in the local quarter in smaller teams such as fortaleza, dublin and pascual somma, he joined what was then in the divisional de intermedia in 1936 club deportivo juventud, which plays for asociación uruguaya de fútbol. he then moved to the montevideo wanderers, where he began his professional career, playing for a total of five seasons. in 1938 he made his debut there. varela completed 139 games for the club in which he scored 13 goals. he then joined peñarol. he was a member of the aurinegros from 1943 to 1955 and was uruguayan champion six times with the club and he was reowned as a fair player with passion with great ball skills, playing in defence and offense, his great passing and goalscoring ability. ten years later, his nephew luis varela, who had previously played for liverpool fc, also joined peñarol.