According to Romain Molina, Adrien Rabiot (29) had his heart set on a move to the Premier League this summer, amid interest notably from Arsenal and Manchester United.
Rabiot has been a free agent since the expiry of his contract at Juventus at the start of the summer. Upon his departure from the Serie A side, Molina understands that he favoured a move to England, however, Arsenal turned towards Mikel Merino, whilst Manchester United opted to sign Manuel Ugarte from Paris Saint-Germain.
Thereafter, the options that appealed to Rabiot dwindled. There was interest from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but the France international was not receptive to their approaches. Then an opportunity to return to Italy, with AC Milan opened up. Once again, Rabiot refused. Molina understands that AC Milan were offering the midfielder a €7m per year deal.
Instead, he has chosen to join Olympique de Marseille on a much less financially lucrative deal worth €2.5m a year. That deal does include some bonuses within it. The former PSG midfielder was convinced by the sporting project presented by Medhi Benatia, enough so to make considerable financial sacrifices to secure a return to France with OM.
GFFN | Luke Entwistle