Man Utd miss out on ANOTHER top summer target

Carlo Garganese

• 27 Jun 2023 11:01 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United have seemingly missed out on yet another top summer transfer target as Adrien Rabiot is set to sign a new contract with Juventus.

Multiple sources on Tuesday confirm that Rabiot has agreed a one-year extension to his deal that was due to expire this week.

Rabiot will pen a contract until 2024 on the same €7 million-a year salary that he has earned since joining Juventus from PSG.

READ MORE: Who is Veronique Rabiot?

The news comes as a big blow to Manchester United, who had made Rabiot as one of their top targets for the summer window.

Indeed, United had been in discussions with his mother and agent Veronique only 24 hours ago about a free transfer to United.

That has all proved in vain as United are now set to miss out on yet another transfer target.

READ MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers: All the Done Deals

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 means that Juve finished seventh and will only be in the Conference League - and that’s only if they avoid a total European ban from Uefa, which is a possibility.

But the midfielder has chosen to stay as he feels Turin is the best environment for him to play his best football ahead of Euro 2024.

Last season he enjoyed the best season of his career with 11 goals.

Rabiot close to joining Man Utd last year

This is the second time in less than a year that Rabiot has rejected Man Utd.

Rabiot was very close to joining Man Utd last year, with the 28-year-old locked in advanced negotiations with the Red Devils.

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

All that was required to complete the move was for Rabiot to agree personal terms.

However, Rabiot requested a huge salary rise. His mother and agent Veronique was blamed for these excessive demands, also asking for a huge signing-on bonus.

Subsequently, Man Utd refused to meet these salary demands and the transfer fell through.