Manchester United are closer to completing a deal for Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot following a meeting with his mother and agent Veronique yesterday.
That’s according to Gazzetta Dello Sport and Corriere Dello Sport, who cover the situation around the Frenchman today.
United have been heavily linked with Rabiot this week, with Erik ten Haag reportedly turning his attention to him amid his frustrated efforts to sign Frenkie de Jong from Barcelona.
Rabiot is seen as the cheaper alternative and talks are underway with the player and Juventus to make a deal happen.
Manchester United chief John Murtough was pictured in Turin yesterday to hold talks with Veronique Rabiot, the midfielder’s agent, and both newspapers cover that today.
Gazzetta explain that the meeting did not produce ‘formal efforts’ from United but it ‘substantially brought the parties closer’ to an agreement.
They say that ‘optimism is leaking out’ from the player’s side, which are in contrast to reports from England of demands of €10m per season plus big commissions.
Instead, Rabiot is ‘deepening conversations’ with Manchester United, who have already struck an agreement worth €20m with Juventus.
Corriere back all of this up, explaining that the meeting between Veronique and Murtough yesterday was a ‘positive’ one.
They say that there is still a distance between the two parties in terms of salary and fees but there is a ‘willingness’ to reach an agreement, perhaps as early as next week.
They also insist there is no problem between Manchester United and Juventus, but offer a different price, saying United have offered £15m, nearly €18m, as opposed to €20m.
That’s only slight different from Gazzetta’s price, though, and both are in agreement that yesterday’s meeting was a positive one and brought Rabiot one step closer to moving to Old Trafford.
