Man Utd free transfer HIJACKED by Barcelona

Carlo Garganese

• 6 Feb 2024 09:25 GMT
• 2 min read

Manchester United’s attempts to sign Adrien Rabiot on a free transfer this summer have taken a blow with the news that Barcelona have entered the race for the Juventus star.

Rabiot’s contract at Juventus expires at the end of the current season, and he is yet to open talks over a renewal.

It has been widely reports that United are making a move to open discussions with Rabiot over him joining on a Bosman Transfer.

But, according to 3Cat in Catalonia, Barcelona now are preparing their own offer for Rabiot.

Barcelona do not have the cash to spend big transfer fees and will again rely on the free transfer market, as they have done in recent years with the signings of the likes of Ilkay Gundogan, Franck Kessie and Sergio Aguero.

Inter have also been linked with a move for Rabiot, who is said to prefer a move abroad if he does leave Juventus.

This is the second year in a row that Rabiot’s contract is due to expire, with the midfielder extending his contract just days before it was set to run out at the end of June last year.

United had been in discussions with his mother and agent Veronique.

The chances of Rabiot staying at Juventus appeared to be slim as the days ticked down to his June 30 contract expiry.

Juventus had been in talks with Rabiot over a new deal for a few months but discussions were halted when the Bianconeri were handed a final 10-point penalty which saw them fail to qualify for the Champions League.

Rabiot had made it clear that he would only stay at Juventus if they qualified for the Champions League. The points deduction meant that Juve finished seventh and they were eventually banned from Europe altogether.

But the midfielder chose to stay in the end.

It was the second time in less than a year that he had rejected United.

It is widely understood that Juventus and Man Utd agreed on a transfer fee worth €18m plus €6m in add-ons in the summer of 2022.

But United were unable to agree personal terms with Rabiot, with his mother and agent Veronique again blamed for excessive demands. United then signed Casemiro instead.

United are now set to make a third attempt at Rabiot this summer.