After a disastrous opening two weeks, there were calls for Manchester United to spend heavily and back Erik ten Hag in his first season as manager.
And the club hierarchy ultimately had to change their stance and spent big on the likes of midfield general Casemiro and right-winger Antony.
Casemiro is yet to start a game but he might finally get his chance in the Europa League opener against Real Sociedad at Old Trafford on Thursday.
But before the Brazilian came through the doors at Carrington, United were in talks with Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot over a potential move.
After failing in their attempts to prise Frenkie de Jong away from Barcelona, United ended up turning their attention to the former Paris Saint-Germain star.
Rabiot’s demands
There was little trouble in the fee agreement part as a fee of around €20million was agreed between both clubs but trouble started when it came to negotiating personal terms.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, the Turin club were desperate for the transfer to happen as that would free up a large portion of the wage bill and would help the club to a healthy profit.
“If only United had said yes to the exorbitant requests of mother Veronique…,” was how the Italian publication wishfully looked at the transfer.
Never forget we moved from Rabiot & Arnautovic to Casemiro & Antony. From tears of sorrow to tears of joy 😭
— Trey (@UTDTrey) August 30, 2022
Veronique Rabiot, the player’s mother and agent, has always proved to be a difficult person to work with and the same issues cropped up this time as well.
Her exorbitant demands meant United had to walk away from the deal with the former Real Madrid star arriving, much to the joy of fans around the world.
Worked out well for United in the end
But according to Goal Italia journalist Romeo Agresti, who spoke to L’Equipe, the reality of the situation was contradictory to reports published.
“The demands weren’t crazy. It’s exaggerated. She was asking for less than certain players currently at Manchester United.”
That does not necessarily mean Rabiot’s requests were reasonable as asking for less than certain players might be relative considering that David de Gea and Cristiano Ronaldo earn the highest.
Rabiot certainly does not command a high wage and in the end, Casemiro is an upgrade over the Juve star and fans are happy to have the midfield general in their ranks rather than yet another French trouble-maker!
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