In the small world of football, the summer transfer market closed on August 30 at 11pm. However, one of the best moves of the transfer window perhaps came more than two weeks later. On the evening of Sunday, September 15, Olympique de Marseille announced in a brief press release that it had “We have reached an agreement in principle with Adrien Rabiot for the French international midfielder to come to the club”. The whole thing, “subject to the results of the medical examination”which should take place on Tuesday according to information from The team.
Since his adventure at Juventus ended in June, the “Duke” had no contract with any team, which explains why he was able to join City of Marseille as a free agent outside the usual schedule. But beyond the administrative dimensions, the arrival in Marseille of one of the directors of the French national team (48 caps) is a great surprise. After spending a Euro in the role of an undisputed starter, Rabiot had been associated with several of the most important teams in Europe (Manchester United, AC Milan or Atlético de Madrid, among others) and seemed in all cases destined to join a team competing in the Champions League.
At 29, he has finally landed in a team that has qualified for any European competition, but which has been drastically reinforced this summer to aspire to tickle Paris Saint-Germain’s nerves in Ligue 1. In addition to the arrival of the Italian Roberto de Zerbi on the bench, the Phocéens signed the controversial English winger Mason Greenwood, accused of domestic violence on the other side of the English Channel (before the charges were dropped following the withdrawal of his teammate’s complaint), the former Lensois striker Elye Wahi and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg. Rabiot is expected to play alongside the Dane in the Olympique de Marseille midfield.
Back in Ligue 1, five years later
According to Agence France-Presse, the midfielder should sign a two-year lease, at the price “significant financial sacrifices”According to the Italian press, he earned around seven million euros net each season with Juventus, so he had to lower his salary expectations and his signing bonus to head to the southeast of France.
The international’s first steps at his new club are obviously eagerly awaited. Almost as much as the welcome he will receive from his new fans, or from PSG in March 2025 during the “clásico” at the Parc des Princes. Because Adrien Rabiot is returning to Ligue 1 by changing sides. He arrived at PSG in 2010, at the age of 15, and completed his formative years there before settling into a star-studded dressing room to win six French league titles. The love story finally ended in 2019 after a conflict and being sidelined by the club after refusing to renew his contract.
Will this brutal end and his five years in Piedmont with Juventus be enough to make fans forget Rabiot’s Parisian background? Perhaps not. But the left-footer should handle a potentially stormy first few months with ease, having been accustomed to dealing with minor controversies since the start of his career. In 2018, he refused to make himself available to the ‘Bleus’ after his absence from Didier Deschamps’ first World Cup squad. Following this decision, he was excluded from the French national team for two years.
The context is not the same, and Rabiot’s level of play, combined with his high-level experience, could quickly make him one of the favourites at the Vélodrome. Especially since Olympique de Marseille seems to hold a special place in his life as a fan. “During the classics I was clearly in favour of OM” revealed his former youth teammate at US Créteil Lusitanos, Abdelhak Benaniba in 2019 with Then foot.
