Manchester United are thought to be open to the idea of taking Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot as part of any deal for Paul Pogba, but only if the money still makes sense for the Red Devils.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Juventus were heavily linked with a big-money move to bring Pogba back to Turin, but the financial uncertainty of the current climate has seen things slow down a bit recently.
Now, if Juventus want to land the Frenchman, they will have to find a way to send some players to Old Trafford in return. According to Calciomercato, Rabiot’s name has been put on the table, and United wouldn’t be against such a move.
However, the report goes on to state that United have a problem with pretty much every part of the deal. They don’t agree with Juventus’ €30m valuation of Rabiot and they also feel his €7m-a-year wages are too high.
It seems like United would be happy with Rabiot in their squad – previous reports have suggested the Red Devils have already spoken to his agent – but they’re not going to take Rabiot as the core part of a Pogba deal.
Calciomercato even state that including Rabiot is not going to be the best strategy for Juventus, so there’s not much to this one really.
Given United’s interest in Rabiot, expect his name to remain part of swap deal rumours for the next few weeks, but it will have to be alongside some other players if United are to agree.
Aaron Ramsey, Douglas Costa and Federico Bernardeschi have all been suggested as alternatives, but given Juventus value Rabiot at close to €30m, it seems unlikely that they would throw too many players into a deal as they will likely be wary of ‘overspending’.
United are right to be wary of such a valuation. Rabiot is a 25-year-old who started just 11 league games before football was postponed and has spent the majority of the last two years facing accusations of attitude problems.
As seems to be the case with every player with attitude issues, Rabiot’s talent has been clear to see for years but signing him obviously comes with a risk, and United clearly aren’t willing to overspend to get him.
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