Man Utd ‘internally discussing’ high profile free agent signing that would spell the end for struggling star

Manchester United are considering whether to shelve their transfer policy on a one-time basis by swooping for free agent Adrien Rabiot, while Fabrizio Romano has dropped a tantalising update that makes great reading for the Red Devils.

Rabiot, 29, brought his five-year stint with Juventus to a close on June 30 upon leaving as a free agent. Yet despite being unattached, Rabiot was still selected in Didier Deschamps’ France squad for Euro 2024 in an indication of how highly he’s regarded.

However, to the surprise of many the new domestic season is well underway and Rabiot is still without a club. That’s despite courting interest over the summer from European heavyweights such as AC Milan.

More recently, Rabiot has been the subject of offers from Turkish giant Galatasaray as well as Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.

But when taking to X on Sunday morning, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano confirmed Rabiot has no intention of dropping into a lesser league.

Rabiot won’t move to Turkey or Saudi Arabia

“Similar to Turkey, Adrien Rabiot has also currently no plans to accept any proposal from Saudi Pro League,” wrote Romano.

“His priority and desire remain European top five leagues.”

Rabiot was omitted from Deschamps’ France squad for the Nations League clashes with Italy and Belgium in the current international break.

Commenting on the decision, the France boss strongly suggested Rabiot will be recalled once he signs with a new club.

“Adrien Rabiot has a somewhat embarrassing situation,” stated Deschamps (as quoted by Goal). “His contract was expiring and he was solicited by several teams but now he’s without a team and doesn’t train in a group.

“I hope he can quickly choose a club that can then bring him back to us.”

Man Utd consider Rabiot swoop; Newcastle also hovering

Various sources including TEAMtalk’s own transfer insider, Rudy Galetti, have confirmed Rabiot has interest in England.

Both Man Utd and Newcastle are weighing up whether to bring the central midfielder on board. Clubs can sign free agents outside of the transfer window and can register those players as long as they free up room in their 25-man squad.

A move to Man Utd would come as something of a surprise given the club’s new transfer initiative under Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

Man Utd have ditched the ‘Hollywood signings’ that often provided a quick short-term boost and little else aside from longer-term problems.

Instead, Man Utd’s five first-team signings over the summer were all aged 26 or under (Noussair Mazraoui the oldest at 26).

In theory, each of that quintet (Mazraoui, Leny Yoro, Matthijs De Ligt, Manuel Ugarte, Joshua Zirkzee) should spend the primes of their careers at Old Trafford and not elsewhere, as was the case with Casemiro at Real Madrid.

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The Brazilian is once again in the spotlight following his woeful display in the 3-0 defeat to Liverpool last time out.

Man Utd were open to offloading Casemiro over the summer, though interest in the 32-year-old who earns roughly £350,000-a-week was scarce.

The Red Devils signed Manuel Ugarte on deadline day and it’s expected he’ll be the one to partner Kobbie Mainoo in central midfield.

But according to a fresh update from Caught Offside, Man Utd are considering shelving their transfer policy on a one-time basis by swooping for Rabiot too.

It’s claimed Man Utd are ‘internally discussing’ whether to bring the veteran Frenchman on board.

Furthermore, it’s encouragingly stated Rabiot is prioritising a move to England ahead of any of Europe’s other top four leagues (LaLiga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1).

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Rabiot arrival would spell the end for Casemiro

In the event Rabiot were to arrive, the writing would be on the wall for Casemiro.

Man Utd cannot offload the Brazilian until the January window at the earliest. But from a playing-time perspective, Casemiro would be relegated to fourth choice in a two-man midfield behind Mainoo, Ugarte and Rabiot.

Even when Ten Hag rests and rotates, Casemiro would not be a shoo-in to come into the eleven.

Christian Eriksen is also on the books, while Erik ten Hag is understood to be hugely impressed with 20-year-old Toby Collyer.

Among those to leave Man Utd over the summer were central midfielders Hannibal Mejbri (Burnley) and Scott McTominay (Napoli).

Sofyan Amrabat returned to Fiorentina once his loan spell concluded and was subsequently loaned out to Jose Mourinho’s Fenerbahce.

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