Manchester United could lose Adrien Rabiot to Liverpool

Manchester United could lose out on Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Adrien Rabiot to Liverpool, according to reports.

The French midfielder has not been included in a squad for PSG since December and the 23-year-old player will leave when his contract ends in Paris. That means he is available on a free transfer.

He has already seen interest from Barcelona and Tottenham Hotspur wane after he made huge wage demands given he does not command a transfer fee, meaning more wages can be negotiated in its place, but that has so far appeared to backfire.

However, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen to bring the player to Old Trafford, and they have offered him wages of £170,0000 a week in an attempt to persuade him to drop out of the Champions League and slum it in the Europa for the foreseeable future. He would also be offered a £4.5 million signing-on fee in order to bump up the contract’s worth.

The problem with the transfer is not that Rabiot is refusing to join United, but that he would much prefer to join Liverpool, having seen them lift the Champions League, and improve rapidly under Jurgen Klopp.

United can no longer offer players the chance to succeed on the world stage, and in Alexis Sanchez they have shown that Old Trafford is now a place where careers come to die. With Paul Pogba wanting to leave the club for elsewhere, it is evidently a club on the decline, staffed with mediocrity, and it is tough situation to turn it around. More money is needed to convince worse players to come to the club, when the very best players will eschew even considering a move to United.

There is no obvious, quick solution to the problem, so expect Ed Woodward to spend £300 million on Gareth Bale this summer instead.