KEY POINTS

  • Adrien Rabiot is contracted with Juventus until 2023
  • Man Utd are seeing Rabiot as an alternative for Frenkie de Jong
  • The Red Devils' next game is against Brentford on Saturday

Manchester United have reportedly reached an agreement with Juventus for midfielder Adrien Rabiot.

The club has agreed to pay an initial fee of around $18 million for 27-year-old Rabiot, The Guardian reported. The Red Devils are seeing Rabiot as an alternative for Erik ten Hag's top target Frenkie de Jong.

While Juventus are open to selling Rabiot, who has just a year left on his current contract, the French midfielder has not reached personal terms with Manchester United as yet, according to Fabrizio Romano, who has a credible record in the European transfer market.

Rabiot was a regular in Massimiliano Allegri's starting XI at Juventus last season, but he sat out during their pre-season tour to the United States due to personal reasons. Rabiot rose through the youth ranks at Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) before making his first-team debut in the 2012-13 season.

After six full seasons at PSG, Rabiot moved to Juventus, where he spent three seasons, including the 2021-22 campaign. He made 45 competitive appearances last season but failed to score a goal. The player, however, made two assists.

Adrien Rabiot PSG
Adrien Rabiot moved from PSG to Juventus in the summer of 2019 Reuters

Going into the 2022 summer transfer window, Manchester United had made De Jong one of their top targets. While the Old Trafford side reached an agreement with FC Barcelona, the Dutch midfielder refused to leave the Catalans. The club's failure to secure a Champions League spot this season could be one of the reasons for the rejection.

In a recent interview, Barcelona chief Joan Laporte confirmed that De Jong wants to stay at Barcelona despite interest from Manchester United.

"He is a Barca player of great quality and we want him to stay. He has offers but we want him to stay and he wants to stay too," Laporte said, according to BBC Sport.

Manchester United have had a few other names on their target list as well ahead of the Sept. 1 deadline day, including RB Salzburg's Benjamin Sesko and Napoli star Fabian Ruiz, according to Goal.com.

The 19-year-old Sesko, however, is believed to be close to joining German club RB Leipzig, but the transfer will happen only next summer. Ruiz has agreed to join PSG.

Manchester United started off their 2022-23 Premier League campaign with a 2-1 loss to Brighton at Old Trafford last weekend. Their next game is against Brentford on Saturday.