L’Équipe report that Juventus are seeking to offload 25-year-old French midfielder Adrien Rabiot this summer, and have already begun offering the player in part exchange in a number of deals with multiple clubs.
The Italian outfit feel that Rabiot’s performances have not matched the €7.5m a year net salary that the Frenchman is on until 2024. However, the outlet claims that the final straw for Juve with the ex-PSG man was his poor performance in the 1st leg of their Round of 16 Champions’ League clash with Lyon, that the Old Lady lost 1-0.
Although the player did nothing wrong by returning to Turin earlier this week a little later than the majority of his teammates but not later than formally required by the club, contrary to the Italian press talk, Véronique Rabiot was not happy with Juve requesting that her son take a wage cut owing to COVID-19, despite the fact that the Frenchman earned a €10m signing bonus when he joined from PSG in June 2019.
This tension has irritated Juventus and thus Sporting Director Fabio Paratici is seeking to rid of the Frenchman this summer. The Italians have already reached out to three big English clubs about a deal – Chelsea have been reached out to for Jorginho. Maurizio Sarri would like to reunite with the 28-year-old, who he worked at with Napoli and the Blues.
The Serie A side have internally valued the Frenchman at €35m. Juve have also reached out to Barcelona for a part exchange deal that includes Arthur – the Italians feel that Rabiot and the Brazilian have similar market value, but the Catalan club might not want anything to do with the Frenchman after he spectacularly broke off negotiations with them in the spring of 2019.
Paratici is most hopeful about the third club that he has sought to deal with, Manchester United, with the idea of including Adrien Rabiot in a deal for Paul Pogba to lower the Red Devils’ asking price for La Pioche. Pogba is under contract with Manchester United until June 2021 and a transfer is estimated to cost €80m, although Real Madrid remain the world champion’s priority.
The player’s future is in his and his mother’s hands – they have no intention of being pressured into a destination that would suit Juventus.
There is reciprocal interest with Manchester United; Arsenal are also an option, Mikel Arteta knows him well. But Rabiot’s desire is to bounce back at Everton, where Carlo Ancelotti is running the show, as the Italian was the one that gave Rabiot his career liftoff in the first place at PSG at the age of 17 in 2012. The Frenchman has never forgotten that feeling of being valued – he’s been without it for quite some time. The problem? Everton don’t have any players that might interest Juventus in exchange and his enormous salary will be difficult for the Toffees to match.
