Marseille signing initially hoped to join Arsenal or Manchester United

Adrien Rabiot wanted a summer move to the Premier League amid links to Arsenal, but he ended up deciding to join Olympique de Marseille.

Romain Molina reports (via GFFN) that Adrien Rabiot had his heart set on a move to the Premier League this summer, amid interest from Arsenal and Manchester United.

But after Arsenal turned to Mikel Merino and Manchester United signed Manuel Ugarte, Rabiot was forced to look elsewhere.

The player wasn’t interested in moves to Saudi Arabia or Turkey, nor a return to Italy with AC Milan. In the end, he had to accept a significant wage cut to join Olympique de Marseille instead.

Rabiot has often been linked with Arsenal over the years, and it’s no real surprise that happened again this summer.

The midfielder had run down his deal with Juventus, so he was available as a free agent. He evidently would have liked a move to Arsenal, the Gunners just didn’t make an offer.

Rabiot delayed a decision on his future for a while, perhaps hoping that the Euros would raise his stock a little. Making five starts in six games as France reached the semi-finals probably didn’t hurt, but it didn’t get him the Premier League offer he wanted either.

Instead, Rabiot’s performances with France ultimately got him a transfer back to his home country, where he formerly represented Paris Saint-Germain and Toulouse. The 29-year-old will now be eyeing a debut against Lyon on Sunday.