Juventus’ Adrien Rabiot is reportedly ‘quite surprised’ about the relative lack of interest in him as Premier League giants Manchester United continue to focus their attention on Chelsea’s Mason Mount.
The trouble with using a term like ‘final bid’ is that – when you end up making another one anyway – it can end up making you look a little silly.
That is the problem Manchester United are now facing; Chelsea rejecting a third and reportedly ‘final’ offer from the Red Devils on Saturday night as Erik ten Hag’s pursuit of Mason Mount continues to drag on.
According to The Athletic’s all-seeing, all-knowing David Ornstein, Chelsea are holding out for £65 million; £58 million up front, and a further £7 million in bonuses. Whether United bite, only time will tell.
Either way, with all eyes on Mount – Brighton’s Moises Caicedo seemingly emerging as Ten Hag’s first-choice alternative – reports linking long-time target Adrien Rabiot with a belated move to Old Trafford have gone quiet.
Much to the ‘surprise’ of the man himself.
Juventus’ Adrien Rabiot could miss out on Man United
“I’m told the player himself is quite surprised there hasn’t been more fuss over the fact he could move,” Dean Jones tells Give Me Sport.
“This is a player that would upgrade pretty much any squad. And, more than that, he would make most starting line-ups better.”
Rabiot is, after all, a free-agent next week; his Juventus contract expiring. Ten Hag remains a fan of the France international, who came close to joining United last summer before a deal fell through following complications regarding personal terms (Gazzetta dello Sport).
What’s more, Rabiot enjoyed arguably the finest season of his career in 2022/23. The rangy midfielder scored 11 goals, setting up six more, with legendary Juventus striker David Trezeguet hailing the ‘extraordinary’ form of a ‘world-class’ talent.
Ten Hag’s desire to add proven Premier League talent to his United squad instead, however, has seen Rabiot fall below Mount on the Red Devils wishlist.
‘Mason Mount is a coaches’ player’
“I’m not surprised that Mason Mount is a target for many managers. I don’t think it would be a priority here but (Ten Hag) does want midfield players,” United legend Gary Neville tells Sky Sports.
“You think of the Dutch coaching style. They want to dominate possession. (Ten Hag) wants that style. He loves Eriksen, he loves (Frenkie de Jong) De Jong, he loves (Bruno) Fernandes.
“He’s left Fred out of the team. He’s left Scott McTominay out of the team more often than not because he loves more technical players. And Mount is a technical player who is available.”
“Mason Mount is a coaches’ player,” Neville adds. “I think that’s the best way to describe him.
“There have been many that I’ve seen in my lifetime in football who get more respect from their coaching staff for what they do than they get from the fans, because their output in goals or assists or tackles or other things that aren’t really noticeable aren’t as good as people like.
“But what they do is they glue teams together. They fill in gaps. They know when to trigger presses and win the ball back and counter-attack.”
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