Manchester United football director John Murtough is under growing pressure to wrap up some transfers after a deal for Adrien Rabiot collapsed.
United have decided to pull the plug on their move for Rabiot due to the Juventus midfielder’s 'obscene' wages demands. The clubs had previously agreed an initial £15million transfer fee with Juve for the 27-year-old France international.
Murtough flew out to Turin to try and tie up the loose ends with Rabiot and his mother Veronique, who acts as his agent. The trip was the latest in a string of flights for Murtough, who is the man in charge of supplying Erik ten Hag with reinforcements for the new era.
United were reportedly willing to make Rabiot one of the club’s highest earners, alongside players like Bruno Fernandes and Christian Eriksen, but no agreement could be reached. Veronique negotiated hard and would not compromise, with earlier reports in Italy suggesting Rabiot was seeking a significant pay rise to move to Old Trafford.
The collapse is particularly embarrassing for Murtough, given it represents yet another failure for United’s chief. He has now flown out to Barcelona and Turin to meet personally with the representatives of Frenkie de Jong and Rabiot, only to come away from both without a deal.
Murtough visited Barcelona last month alongside chief executive Richard Arnold, with the express goal of engineering a move for Ten Hag’s top transfer target. And despite agreeing a deal in principle with Barca, De Jong remains in Spain, with his future still no clearer, months after United first made contact.
It has been a busy summer for Murtough and Arnold, whose travel plans have been compared to “interrailing around Europe”, due to their non-stop nature. The duo have also been to Amsterdam to discuss the possibility of signing Antony from Ajax – another deal they had to walk away from after getting nowhere.
So far United have managed to sign three players this summer: Eriksen, on a free transfer following the expiry of his Brentford contract, Tyrell Malacia, for £13m from Feyenoord, and Lisandro Martinez, for £55m from Ajax. But with United sitting bottom of the Premier League after two successive defeats, pressure is mounting to bring in new players.
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Reports have suggested that United are now turning their attention away from De Jong towards other midfield targets. Real Madrid ’s Casemiro has emerged as one option, while Brighton ’s Moises Caicedo and Atletico Madrid’s Matheus Cunha are others.
Casemiro has another three years left on his Real contract and may be reluctant to leave the Champions League winners for a club in the Europa League. United are reportedly weighing up a £50m bid for the 30-year-old Brazilian, who is facing increased competition at Real following the signing of Aurelien Tchouameni this summer.
United tried to sign Caicedo from Ecuadorian side Independiente del Valle before he joined Brighton for £4m in February 2021. They will have to pay a great deal more to land him now.
