Manchester United have 'accelerated' their move for Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot after their opening-weekend defeat to Brighton, transfer insider Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport.
The lowdown
Sky Sports reported on Wednesday that United have agreed a fee for Rabiot with Juventus.
However, they also stressed that 'there is still work to do' to secure the transfer.
United's football director John Murtough has been in Italy to negotiate personal terms with the player's agent and mother Veronique Rabiot.
The latest
Jones reckons that the Brighton defeat underlined the need for alternatives to Fred and Scott McTominay in midfield.
And he says United have responded by doubling down on their efforts to bring in Rabiot from the Bianconeri.
“I think the main lesson that he could have learnt is that, apart from the fact that you don’t play Christian Eriksen as a number nine, Fred and McTominay have to have competition.
“That’s probably why they’ve accelerated the Rabiot talks on the back of it.”
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Jones also revealed that Ten Hag has personally spoken to Rabiot, partly to explain how he fits into his plans, but also to gauge the feelings of the player. He wants it to be a collaborative process, enabling him to get 'the best' out of the 27-year-old.
“Ten Hag’s talked to Rabiot," he said. "And not so much to just spell out his vision for him, but also to understand what he wants as a player at this stage of his career.
“Because he left PSG under a bit of a cloud, the move to Juventus hasn’t gone well at all, and he just hasn’t fitted into the system that they play.
“So, he will need to understand from Rabiot, how does he feel he will thrive. He plays pretty well for France, but is that a certain system that gets the best out of him?”
The verdict
Fred and McTominay were so disappointing against Brighton that the need for an upgrade is clear. The former failed to win any of the four duels he contested and was dribbled past twice, while the latter completed only 18 passes in 78 minutes and picked up a yellow card.
Both players earned a SofaScore rating of just 6.3/10.
Is Rabiot the answer? Well, he is extremely decorated, winning a whopping 24 major trophies in his career.
Former United centre-back Rio Ferdinand has been told that he could be an 'unstoppable' force, but only if he's in the right headspace.
He said: "I interviewed David Luiz when he was at PSG and Rabiot was still there and he said, 'Rio, one of the most talented players here is Rabiot. But he just needs to get himself right, get his mindset right, his attitude right. If he gets that right he could be unplayable, unstoppable.'"