It’s almost an annual tradition these days at Manchester United.
Barely a transfer window goes by without one of the most decorated footballers in the modern era being linked with a move to Old Trafford. A man who has won no fewer than 24 trophies for club and country.
Manchester United were reportedly keen on tying up a deal for Adrien Rabiot back in 2022 before shifting their focus to Casemiro instead.
Per Sport Mediaset, United agreed a £15 million fee with Juventus before the France international opted to stay in Turin, although his always outspoken mother would quickly fire back at those who suggested the deal fell apart due to Rabiot’s wage demands.
“Did everything fall apart due to a question of money? (Those rumours are) all false,” Veronique Rabiot told Gazzetta dello Sport’s Sport Week.
“United wanted to meet me to illustrate their interest in Adrien. But we never talked about money in detail because he quickly decided to stay in Turin. There were never any real negotiations.”
Still, that did not stop those Rabiot rumours from emerging again in 2023. The former Paris Saint-Germain playmaker – who has already had a spell in Manchester with City’s academy – would instead extend his contract by a further 12 months.
A contract that officially expired on Sunday.
- READ MORE: Manchester United confirmed signings, transfers in, out, loan exits, releases for 2024/25
Manchester United missed out on Adrien Rabiot
So, with Rabiot now officially a free-agent, will Man United return again?
Or has the arrival of Ineos – and a shift in the Red Devils’ transfer policies – ensured that this ship left the harbour as soon as Sir Jim Ratcliffe finally shook hands with the Glazers?
“The renewal with Juve? I don’t know what will happen but I don’t feel like talking about this,” Rabiot tells Calciomercato while out in Germany with a Euro quarter-final clash with Spain coming on Friday.
“(A message) to the fans? I think they’ve understood that I’m focused on the European Championship with my national team. And that we’ll see what happens after that.
“My focus is 100 per cent (with France). Then, obviously I’m always in contact with the club. If I’m not under contract, I’m no longer a Juventus player.”
When you consider the players Man United have prioritised since Ineos took control, there appears to be an acceptance that the days of signing so-called established ‘world-class’, extremely well-paid players with their best years potentially behind them are over.
Transfer policy changes under Ineos
Matthijs de Ligt, Jarrad Branthwaite, Joshua Zirkzee and Manuel Ugarte – seemingly United’s four leading transfer targets – are all aged 24 or under.
Rabiot, in contrast, turned 29 in April. And with Ratcliffe speaking publicly about his desire to make Man United hope to the next generation of superstars – the ‘next (Kylian) Mbappe’ or the ‘next Jude Bellingham’ – Rabiot suddenly feels like a very Glazer-era addition in a new, Ineos-driven age.
“I would rather sign the next Mbappe rather than spend a fortune buying success,” Ratcliffe told the Geraint Thomas’ Cycling Club podcast. “It’s not that clever buying Mbappe. Anyone could figure that one out.
“More challenging is to find the next Mbappe or next Jude Bellingham or next Roy Keane.”
Or, if you like, the next Casemiro, the next Raphael Varane, or the next Anthony Martial. This is where Ugarte, De Ligt and Zirkzee – who’s £34 million release clause became active on July 1st – come in.
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