Manchester United are set to be offered the chance to sign former target Adrien Rabiot after he was transfer-listed by Marseille, according to reports.
Rabiot came close to joining United last summer after leaving Juventus, but instead returned to his homeland with Marseille.
The French international proved a key cog in Roberto De Zerbi’s side, recording nine goals and four assists in 29 league games as Marseille finished second behind Paris Saint-Germain.
However, the 30-year-old has now been made available for sale along with teammate Jonathan Rowe after the pair were involved in a violent dressing room bust-up following their opening league game against Rennes.
Describing the incident, Marseille president Pablo Longoria told AFP: ‘What happened was extremely serious and extremely violent, something I’ve never encountered before.
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‘We had to take a decision because what happened went way beyond what is acceptable in a football club, as it would be in any organisation.’
An experienced midfielder and five-time Ligue 1 winner with PSG, Rabiot is unlikely to be short of offers in the final few weeks of the window.
And Fabrizio Romano reports that United will be one of the clubs offered the chance to sign Rabiot for a cut-price deal of €15-20m (£13-17m).
‘Many of those who are close to Adrien Rabiot’s camp are proposing the opportunity to offer Rabiot to clubs, for example, also to Manchester United,’ the Italian journalist said on his YouTube channel.
‘He’s a player who was a target for Man United many years ago, and in recent years was never close. At the moment, I’m not hearing anything concrete on Manchester United in negotiations for Rabiot.
‘He is going to be offered to Manchester United and many other clubs as an opportunity for €15-20 million. But at the moment, it’s still an open situation.’
United have made clear their desire to sign a central midfielder before the end of the window, although the Red Devils were knocked back in their pursuit of Brighton’s Carlos Baleba.
Ruben Amorim may have his work cut out to convince Rabiot to make the move to Old Trafford, though, with the Frenchman suggesting only last year that United were still ‘in a bit of a hole’.
‘Last year as well, when I was free, they came back in again. I had good talks with them again. But it’s true that it was a bit tricky,’ he told The Athletic when asked about United’s approach to sign him last summer.
‘The situation they’re in at the moment… I felt a bit of reticence about whether United were going to be able to go on and achieve great things. Because they’re in a bit of a hole at the moment.’
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