(foto: Getty Images)
Adrien Rabiot's mother, with unrealistic demands, ruined several transfer opportunities to top clubs. The French midfielder eventually signed for Marseille, earning a significantly lower salary than initially offered.
Adrien Rabiot dreamed of millions and playing for the top clubs, but his mother spoiled it all. He turned down offers of over 7 million euros per year, only to settle for a salary three times lower!
The French international midfielder Adrien Rabiot saw his contract with Juventus expire this summer, leading to his departure from Turin. At 29, he is in the prime of his football career, and it was expected that he would sign for one of Europe’s biggest clubs. Arsenal, Manchester United, Atletico Madrid, and AC Milan all showed interest. However, the Paris-born midfielder, who once refused to play for PSG’s arch-rival Olympique Marseille as a loanee, has now ended up at the Velodrome.
His dream was the English Premier League, but Arsenal eventually chose to sign Mikel Merino from Spain, while Manchester United brought in Uruguayan Manuel Ugarte. Atletico Madrid also lost interest quickly. According to French agent Bruno Satin, his mother is to blame.
Satin commented on Rabiot's transfer to Marseille in French media: "This is the result of the incompetence of the people around him. His mother advises him, and it’s proof that having professionals around you is better. If he had a professional agent, he’d be playing for one of Europe’s top ten clubs."
Satin revealed what Atletico’s sporting director Andrea Berta told him. Berta, who has been in charge of transfers at the Madrid club since 2017, said: "I had two conversations with his mother and immediately cut contact when she started explaining what position her son should be playing in."
Rabiot's chances of joining an elite European club dwindled after this. Although he had offers from Saudi Arabia and Turkey, he flatly rejected them. He even turned down AC Milan’s offer, worth 7 million euros per year, convinced he could get something better.
In the end, his options ran out, and he ended up at the very club he once refused to play for. Marseille’s sporting director Medhi Benatia presented him with an ambitious project under new coach Roberto De Zerbi, and Rabiot set aside his past preferences. He signed a two-year contract worth "only" 2.5 million euros per year.
Marseille fans were thrilled, with around 500 gathering at the airport when his plane landed in the port city. "I didn’t expect this," said the emotional Parisian, a product of Paris Saint-Germain, where he made 227 official appearances from 2012-2019 for a club that is hated in Marseille. "It warmed my heart, and my family is happy too. Everything here is familiar: the atmosphere, the passion, the stadium, the city that lives for football. The goal is to win and return to the Champions League."
Rabiot is undoubtedly a major reinforcement for OM and will surely elevate the level of De Zerbi’s squad. The "Phocaeans" may not be able to financially compete with PSG, but with De Zerbi’s dogmatic football philosophy of high pressing and short passes, which proved successful at Brighton, they could at least keep pace on the pitch with their hated rivals from the capital. Adrien Rabiot will play a key role in this, as he fits perfectly into the Italian coach's philosophy.
His domineering mother, who (unintentionally) sabotaged Rabiot's potential move to a wealthier club, may have made the fight for the top of the Ligue 1 standings more exciting than we’re used to.