Juventus rejected a swap deal proposal from Everton in the summer, that would have seen them trade Lucas Digne for midfielder Adrien Rabiot.
That’s according to Calciomercato.com, who say Juve are rejecting any offers for Rabiot as manager Andrea Pirlo is a big fan of the player.
The website explains that ‘exchange ideas’ will dominate the winter transfer window for Juve, with that having been the case in the summer.
They received ‘so many proposals’ of that nature in the summer and one of them came in their search for a left-back.
According to their information Everton proposed an ‘informal exchange’ – which they make clear was a ‘dialogue not a negotiation close to ending’ – regarding Rabiot, who Carlo Ancelotti is a big fan of.
Part of these talks saw the name of Lucas Digne put on the table but this was rejected by Fabio Paratici, who has rejected any hypothesis regarding a sale of Rabiot.
He would much prefer to sell Aaron Ramsey if anyone were to leave, with him considered ‘more transferable’ than the Frenchman, who has turned things around under Pirlo.
That suggests Everton would be best turning their attention elsewhere if they are still on the hunt for a new midfielder.
It’s no surprise to hear they were still keen on Rabiot after being linked extensively over the last year, although the idea of letting Digne go is an odd one.
He’s a key player at Goodison Park and given there’s no direct replacement for him in the squad, it seems strange they would propose such a deal.
Indeed, we find this rumour a little hard to believe given his importance to Everton and the most likely scenario is that his name was mentioned but swiftly rejected by the Blues rather than put up as one they’d be willing to trade with.
