Manchester United reportedly suffered a blow in their pursuit of free agent Adrien Rabiot, who has agreed to join a club outside of Europe.
Manchester United have reportedly suffered a blow in their pursuit of free agent Adrien Rabiot.
The 29-year-old midfielder is still searching for a new club after his contract with Serie A giants Juventus expired on June 30.
Rabiot spent five years at Juve and made a total of 212 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring 22 goals, registering 14 assists and winning four trophies including the 2019-20 Serie A title.
The France international has been weighing up his future since representing Les Blues in the semi-finals of Euro 2024 and has been linked with a host of European clubs.
A recent report from The Express, via TNT Sports, claims that Man United could look to sign Rabiot to bolster their midfield further following the signing of Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain on deadline day.
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Man United consider Rabiot move?
The Red Devils were heavily linked with Rabiot during the 2022 and 2023 summer transfer windows, but talks ultimately collapsed due to the midfielder’s change of heart, while there were also claims that his mother and agent Veronique Rabiot vetoed a move over wage demands.
Man United’s renewed interest in Rabiot has come at a time when Christian Eriksen has been tipped to leave Old Trafford, although his agent has recently played down a return to former club Ajax.
Meanwhile, Casemiro was in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons following Man United’s 3-0 home defeat to Liverpool on Sunday in which the Brazilian was at fault for two first-half goals and was later withdrawn at the interval.
The arrival of Ugarte is set to see him battle with Casemiro for regular starts in a deeper midfield role, but it has been suggested that Man United could reinforce their midfield further with the addition of Rabiot, especially now that Scott McTominay has joined Napoli.
Premier League rivals Liverpool have also been linked with Rabiot, as have a number of other European clubs such as Bayern Munich, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
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Man United-linked Rabiot agrees Al-Nassr move
Rabiot admitted earlier this year that he ‘still has the desire’ to ‘play in England’ and ‘evolve in the Premier League’, alerting the likes of Man United and Liverpool.
However, according to Fichajes, Rabiot has decided to snub interest from Europe and become the latest high-profile player to move to the Saudi Pro League.
The report claims that Rabiot has agreed a deal to join Al-Nassr, a club who are able to match his salary demands.
Should Rabiot finalise his move to Al-Nassr, he would reunite with legendary striker Cristiano Ronaldo who played alongside the Frenchman at Juventus between 2018 and 2021.
Fellow France internationals Karim Benzema, N’Golo Kante, Moussa Diaby, Houssem Aouar and Aymeric Laporte also ply their trade in the Middle East.