Former Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Adrien Rabiot will join arch-rival Olympique de Marseille, and one expert states that financial motives don’t drive the move.
Throughout the summer, Rabiot was linked to several Premier League clubs, such as Manchester United and Newcastle United. However, for whatever reason, no move to England occurred.
With the summer transfer window closing on August 31, Rabiot had been without a club. Now, in mid-September, the 29-year-old has finally found a club, and it will be Marseille, although the move isn’t official yet.
According to a recent report from Le Figaro, Rabiot’s mother, who still handles his affairs, is demanding a salary of over €10 million for him. Nonetheless, transfer expert Matteo Moretto shared the latest on why Rabiot opted to betray PSG, his boyhood club, and sign with OM.
“It’s been reported that Adrien Rabiot’s camp will earn around €10m from the deal, but I have been informed that this is not the case, and it is much less,” Moretto wrote in his Daily Debriefing column. “No doubt, if he is going to Olympique Marseille, it is not for the money. He will earn less than he would elsewhere, I can assure you of that. The efforts of manager Roberto de Zerbi have been crucial, he pushed hard for Rabiot to come to the Velodrome.
“Marseille have been working on the deal ever since they began to sense doubts about his other options towards the end of August, so there have been at least two weeks of intense conversations leading up to this deal. Rabiot wanted to return to France, that’s been a factor in the conversations too, but de Zerbi’s role, alongside a lot of work from Pablo Longoria and Sporting Director Mehdi Benatia.”
As for how much Rabiot will earn at OM, Le Parisien journalist Abdellah Boulma reported (h/t Le10Sport) that the player’s salary would be more around €3 million to €3.5 million, all accompanied by a nice signing bonus.
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