Euro 2024 free transfer star chooses Real Madrid over Man Utd

Carlo Garganese

• 3 Jul 2024 16:00 BST
• 3 min read

Real Madrid have overtaken Manchester United in the race to sign Adrien Rabiot on a free transfer.

According to Calciomercato, Madrid are now the new favourites to sign the Euro 2024 star.

The report states that Rabiot dreams of joining Madrid, although a final decision won’t be made until after the Euros end.

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Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti is a fan of Rabiot and approves of signing the midfielder.

Rabiot is a free agent after his contract expired at Juventus on July 1.

Juventus are still in talks over renewing his contract and have offered him a new deal of €7 million per year plus €1m in bonuses. Rabiot is demanding €9m a year.

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Milan have also offered Rabiot a contract with a similar salary but until now it was Man Utd who have been favourites to sign the 29-year-old.

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This news about Real Madrid will come as a blow to Man Utd, who have tried to sign the player for three years in a row now.

Rabiot to reject Man Utd again?

Rabiot extended his deal at Juventus just days before it was set to run out at the end of June last year.

United had been in discussions with Veronique Rabiot last summer about signing Rabiot.

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

But the midfielder chose to stay in the end.

It was the second time in 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 Veronique again blamed for excessive demands. United then signed Casemiro instead.

United have now been working on a third attempt to sign Rabiot this summer.

But could they now risk missing out on Rabiot for a third year in a row?

Rabiot, 29, joined Juventus on a free transfer from PSG in 2019. He made over 200 appearances for the club, winning one Scudetto.

He had the best season of his career in 2022-23 with 11 goals in all competitions. He was not been as impressive this past season with five goals.