The three teams challenging Man Utd for free transfer

Carlo Garganese

• Updated: 11 Feb 2024 08:58 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United face a battle to sign Juventus star Adrien Rabiot on a free transfer as there are now four teams in total who want the France international.

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

Inter Milan have built their successful teams in recent years on plenty of free transfer signings and, according to Gazzetta dello Sport, their next target is Rabiot.

Like Inter, Barcelona have had financial problems recently and have relied on free transfers over the last seasons. The Blaugrana also want to sign Rabiot, according to multiple reports in Spain.

And German champions Bayern Munich have also entered the race to sign Rabiot, according to Bild. Bayern have made the signing of a top central midfielder a priority in the summer.

This all means that Man Utd face a tough battle to sign Rabiot, a player who has rejected them twice in the past.

Rabiot contract expiring

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. But Inter, Barcelona and Bayern are also in the race.

Juventus have not given up either of getting Rabiot to extend later in the season, just as they did a year ago.