In the middle of August Adrien Rabiot looked destined to join Manchester United.
Deemed surplus to requirements by Juventus, the emerging interest from the Red Devils looked to be a perfect get-out clause for a player who never lived up to the billing in Turin. United’s Football Director John Murtough went as far as flying out to Italy, with all the signs pointed towards a deal being completed.
Rabiot himself was in the unusual situation of being the centre of a transfer battle that neither side’s fan base particularly wanted to win. For the Bianconeri, they had seen the Frenchman fail to ever justify his wages in an underwhelming three-year stint.
And for United, there was a reluctance to go all-out for a player that had been - to all intents and purposes - thrown on the proverbial scrapheap. But United’s desperation for a midfielder meant their interest gathered pace, with reports suggesting an offer was made to the midfielder, which would have put him amongst the club’s highest earners.
Remarkably, that wasn’t good enough for the 27-year-old, whose mother and agent wanted her client to be suitably recompensed for dropping out of the Champions League. United ultimately baulked at his demands and walked away from what promised to be an expensive and underwhelming transfer.
Weeks later, Erik ten Hag - who had spent the summer chasing a central midfielder - landed Real Madrid ’s Casemiro. And although the early return on that £60million investment has been lacking, there is an acceptance that signing the Brazilian was a better direction to take.
The collapse of that deal also left Juventus in a difficult spot. Manager Massimiliano Allegri had been clear of his disdain towards the ex-PSG ace and with just a year remaining on his contract, his outlook was bleak.
Allegri had never hid his frustrations with Rabiot, openly attacking his record and demanding more from all facets of his game. “If a big club like Juve chose these players there is a reason, the mentality makes the difference,” he said in September 2021.
“They must be very determined in attending the training sessions, scoring, defending, these elements make the difference. How many good technical players haven't been able to explode in their careers?
“If I was Rabiot I'd be very angry with myself, how many goals has he scored in two years here? Ten? It's not acceptable, if I were him, I'd be very upset.”
But once the window closed, Rabiot started to turn the tide. In fact, every time the midfielder has been available for selection, he has found himself in Allegri’s starting XI. And his importance became more clear when an absence of four games through injury, saw the Old Lady fail to win once.
He returned for the thumping win over Bologna at the weekend, a victory which could prove the turning point - not only in their season, but in Allegri’s stuttering tenure. Rabiot then found the net twice against Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League, with the supporters’ whistles and jeers finally turning into cheers, with Allegri heaping praise on the matchwinner.
“I wasn’t surprised at all by Adrien, he’s a player who’s improved,” Allegri explained. ”He’s 27, the best age to take the next steps forward.
"I think that he’s shown that he’s a very good player and I think he has the potential to improve in his forward play and his forward passing. He’s improved a lot in terms of tackling and he scored two goals tonight.
“Slowly things are improving, but I think he is in the most important years of his career.”
Such has been the turnaround, reports in Italy have claimed that tentative contract negotiations are now underway. Regardless of his performances, talks are sure to be painstaking, but the fact they are taking place at all is a positive for both player and club.
