Report: Adrien Rabiot Offered £170K-Per-Week Contract by Manchester United
June 2, 2019
Manchester United have reportedly offered Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Adrien Rabiot a deal worth £170,000 per week to join the club as a free agent.
According to French website Le10Sport (h/t Daily Mirror's Aaron Flanagan), United are also offering the 24-year-old a sign-on fee of €5 million (£4.43 million). Tottenham Hotspur and Juventus are said to be interested in Rabiot as well.
TF1 (h/t sports writer Jeremy Smith) added Everton to the mix of interested teams:
Jeremy Smith @jeremysmith98TF1 reporting that Manchester United and Everton in talks with outgoing PSG midfielder Adrien Rabiot. Such a talented player and rarely let PSG down on the pitch. If he can sort his off-pitch attitude (or maybe more importantly his mother's), he could prove a great signing.
Rabiot played his last match for PSG in December and was subsequently benched indefinitely, per Yahoo Sports France (h/t Metro). The club's sporting director, Antero Henrique, said the decision was made because Rabiot misled the team and was disrespectful to Les Parisiens and their fans.
Since then, he's been linked to several top clubs around the continent, as his expiring contract made him an intriguing value signing. According to Get French Football News, he and his camp have not made the most of the past six months:
Get French Football News @GFFNRe | Rabiot: Management of his future in the last 6 months a veritable disaster. Played around with Barça contract offers so much they withdrew post-Frenkie de Jong & rejected Tottenham pre-contract proposal in January at the same time. Now he’s waiting on UCL-level offers.
Per Bleacher Report's Tom Williams, he has already seen his fair share of controversies during his short career, which included a brief stint as a member of Manchester City's academy. He returned to France after a few months and eventually broke into PSG's senior side in 2012.
Despite the controversy―which included a contract standoff with PSG that involved AS Roma, and a rejection of a spot on France's standby list for the 2018 World Cup―Rabiot should be a popular man this summer.
A versatile midfielder with strong defensive chops and passing range, Rabiot's best assets are his vision and smooth feet. The Frenchman glides with the ball at his feet and rarely loses his composure. He's a solid distributor in all areas of the pitch and uses his vision to intercept passes and start counter-attacks.
As a free agent, he could present incredible value in a summer in which Frenkie de Jong will cost Barcelona £65 million. Like Aaron Ramsey, who will join Juventus from Arsenal as a free agent, the lack of a transfer fee could lead to a massive wage packet.
United are expected to add at least one class central midfielder to their ranks after the likes of Juan Mata, Ander Herrera and Nemanja Matic struggled playing next to Paul Pogba this past season.