Manchester United have been boosted in their hopes of landing Adrien Rabiot as Juventus close in on signing Thomas Partey from Arsenal.
Mirror Football revealed Partey was attracting interest from Italy while there is now demand for the midfielder in Saudi Arabia as well. It is believed that Juve are leading the way to land the Ghanaian as they are yet to conclude contract talks with Rabiot, whose deal in Turin expires next week.
Interest has been reactivated in Juve midfielder Rabiot, despite United walking away from a deal last year due to the Frenchman's excessive salary demands. However, United want to bolster their central midfield this summer.
United struck a deal with Juventus to sign the midfielder in the summer of 2022, believed to be worth £15.2million. However the deal broke down, but it may now be resurrected due to no need for a transfer fee to be paid to the Italian giants. As per Calciomercato, Juve's interest in Partey is fuelled by Rabiot's likely exit.
United ultimately strengthened their midfield with the addition of Casemiro from Real Madrid, bolstering a squad who had already secured the addition of Christian Eriksen as a free agent following the expiration of his contract at Brentford.
Reports first emerged that Rabiot is on United’s summer shortlist from French outlet L'Equipe. The 28-year-old is due to become a free agent at the end of June after running down his deal at Juventus and has been identified as a priority target by Ten Hag.
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The France international would not command a transfer fee and feasibly would be a straightforward deal to conduct, especially with the framework of talks already having taken place last year.
United will listen to bids of £20million for midfielder Fred amid interest from Fulham. The combative Brazilian midfielder has spent the past five seasons at Old Trafford, making 213 first-team appearances and netting 14 goals in the process.
However, Fulham are interested in a deal for the Brazilian and United will allow him to depart should a replacement be sourced. It comes as Marcel Sabitzer’s loan spell at Old Trafford comes to an end, once again leaving them light in the central midfield department.
Before last season’s World Cup, Rabiot explained on Gazzetta dello Sport of last summer’s collapsed move: “It’s true, there were contacts with Premier League clubs, but in the end, I was lucky to stay, perhaps it was the best decision.
“The Premier League is the most followed league, but I don’t think about the future. I am focused on the World Cup. The club and I are in no hurry (over a contract extension), there’s serenity so we can consider all options.”
