France star in big decision as Man Utd, Tottenham and Newcastle find out when deal can be completed
A France World Cup star has decided on whether he will be moving to the Premier League in the January transfer window, with Manchester United, Tottenham and Newcastle all linked with bids.
France are currently preparing for their second consecutive World Cup final. They beat Morocco 2-0 in the semi-final on Wednesday, thanks to goals from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani. This set up a colossal clash with Argentina.
Lionel Messi has already revealed it will be his last ever World Cup game. So France have the opportunity to spoil the party and prevent arguably football’s greatest ever player from winning the sport’s biggest prize.
Kylian Mbappe could also prevent Messi from the scooping the tournament’s Golden Boot award. Both Paris Saint-Germain stars are on five goals from six appearances ahead of Sunday’s final.
Several members of the France squad have been tipped to join Man Utd in 2023. Defender Benjamin Pavard, who currently plays for Bayern Munich at club level, is being tracked by Erik ten Hag to as he looks for a new right-back.
PSG star Mbappe, meanwhile, is thought to be one of Man Utd’s dream signings to replace Cristiano Ronaldo up front. However, officials at Old Trafford know it would be an incredibly hard transfer to pull off, given Real Madrid’s long-term pursuit of the attacker and his massive wage demands.
Then there is central midfielder Adrien Rabiot. He is in the final year of his contract and it doesn’t look like Juventus are going to renew it. This means he will likely leave Turin for a cut-price fee in January, or walk away from the Italian giants on a free transfer next summer.
Man Utd initially targeted Rabiot in the summer transfer window. It seems they are back in for him due to his expiring contract. Tottenham and Newcastle want to blow the Red Devils away with major contract offers, though.
France player receives numerous ‘significant offers’
Spanish outlet Sport have now given their take on the 27-year-old. They reveal he has had several ‘significant offers’ from England, which essentially confirms the interest from Man Utd, Spurs and Newcastle.
However, Rabiot will not make a decision on his future until after the winter window shuts. This means he will be staying at Juve for the remainder of his contract and secure a transfer once he becomes a free agent.
This will be a blow to the trio of Premier League suitors. They were all hoping to snap Rabiot up mid-season, to help with their respective aims for the campaign.
Adrien Rabiot available on a free
But it is not all bad news. Rabiot moving next summer means he will not cost a penny in transfer fees. This gives Man Utd, Spurs and Newcastle the chance to land a classy World Cup player without having to spend big.
Of course, the former PSG man will ask for a large salary. But his lack of transfer fee means this shouldn’t be too hard for the Prem clubs to match.
Rabiot only wants to play for the most illustrious teams in Europe. So it is most likely he will end up at Man Utd. Spurs’ trophy drought will probably prevent them from convincing Rabiot to join.
Newcastle are definitely going in the right direction. But Rabiot will not want to wait until the project is finished to win silverware.
He will believe the best chance of doing this is at Man Utd, where Ten Hag has got the team competing again.
Elsewhere, Man Utd reportedly face competition from a Turkish Super Lig club to sign a Barcelona forward.
