Football Transfer News: Manchester United agree fee for Adrien Rabiot but face task of negotiating with his mother

In the latest Football Transfer News, Manchester United have agreed a fee in principle with Juventus for midfielder Adrien Rabiot but have to negotiate personal terms with the player's agent - his mother.

Sources say Rabiot's mother, Veronique, is the "only stumbling block" as United have to agree satisfactory personal terms.

The Manchester Evening News understands there was an acceptance at United late last week they had to pursue alternative midfielders to Frenkie de Jong, despite agreeing an €85million fee with Barcelona last month.

United have not ended pursuit of De Jong but club sources said fall-back targets were being kept "warm" as a deal for De Jong is in the balance.

Rabiot, 27, has entered the last year of his contract at Juventus and the club reinforced their midfield over the last year with the additions of Manuel Locatelli, Denis Zakaria and Paul Pogba.

Rabiot started 28 times for Juventus last season and lined up in six of their eight Champions League matches but only joined the club after Massimiliano Allegri resigned as coach in 2019. Allegri rejoined Juve last year.

The possibility of joining a Premier League club has always appealed to Rabiot and United have tracked him since Louis van Gaal was manager.

United have a recruitment department that spends every day all year monitoring talent around the world. Are we supposed to believe that they have been closely watching Marko Arnautovic and Adrien Rabiot and they came top of their lists for those positions?

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