Manchester United director of football John Murtough is traveling to meet Adrien Rabiot’s mother and agent Veronique in a bid to land the club’s fourth summer signing, according to reports. The Red Devils are understood to have agreed a £15million deal with Juventus for the Frenchman and there is optimism that the transfer is close to being completed.
However, the final hurdle appears to involve a personal deal with the player and Veronique Rabiot, who is a notoriously tricky negotiator.
He has been at the center of several public disputes, most notably with Paris Saint-Germain, who sold the midfielder to Juventus in 2019.
According to The Telegraph , Murtough is now on a mission to personally secure United’s fourth summer signing after Tyrell Malaca, Lisandro Martinez and Christian Eriksen.
Erik ten Hag is believed to have lent his own personal backing in a deal for Rabiot, who is said to be open to a move.
READ MORE: Man Utd boss Ten Hag on four reasons why Rabiot is wrong to sign
United have now called off a move to sign Bologna striker Marko Arnautovic despite making an initial bid worth £7.2m.
The club’s interest in the Austria international has come in for a lot of criticism, leading United to walk away from the deal.
Ten Hag confirmed after the Brighton defeat that new signings were very much on the agenda following the worrying performance.
“We need more players. We have multiple goals,” he said. “We’re working on it. But today we should have done better with this team.
“Everything is a matter of results. We all know we are in a process. There are still many things that need to be improved. We have to learn from this and then move on.”
United are also looking for additional attacking reinforcements with Cody Gakpo among the names of interest.
The Red Devils had been working on a deal for Salzburg’s Benjamin Sesko before RB Leipzig beat them to a deal for the highly-rated Slovenian.
The club are now also exploring alternative midfield targets with Frenkie de Jong still seemingly out of reach.