Adrien Rabiot could have been a Roma player instead of joining Juventus a few years ago when he departed PSG. Veteran director Walter Sabatini revealed it to Cronache di Spogliatoio (via OneFootball).
“The most bitter experience I had wasn’t directly with him but rather with his mother and agent. I let him slip through my fingers. I had reached an agreement to sign him on a free transfer. However, since PSG had paid €30M for Marquinhos in a previous window, I thought it wouldn’t be fair to poach him for nothing. I opened talks to give them some compensation.”
“His mother caught wind of that and was properly furious. We quarreled, and I had to give up the chase. It still bothers me to this day. I consider Rabiot a great player.”
The Frenchman needed multiple seasons to hit his stride in Turin, but he eventually managed. After some back and forth and plenty of uncertainty, the Bianconeri extended his contract for one extra campaign last summer.
Our Take on Roma and Rabiot
It’s unfortunate to be penalized for a beau geste. He would have joined a stacked midfielder that comprised Jordan Veretout and Henrikh Mkhitaryan on top of current contributors Bryan Cristante and Lorenzo Pellegrini. One has to wonder whether he would have bloomed earlier in the Italian capital or if perhaps he would have been driven out of town much earlier had he struggled for a while there too.
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