It’s official: “Olympique de Marseille is pleased to announce the signing of Adrien Rabiot” this Tuesday afternoon. After agreeing on a two-year contract (the Marseille club does not specify this in its press release), while he had been unable to find a new club playing in the Champions League, the 29-year-old French international midfielder arrived in Provence on Monday evening, welcomed like a rock star by supporters. He therefore successfully passed his medical examination prior to signing the contract. There will be no turnaround!
Rabiot poses for a photo with the president Pablo Longoria and Fabrizio Ravanelli, the “institutional and sports advisor” of OM, and thus brandishes his lucky number 25. The left-hander who finished his training at PSG wore this number 25 with the Red and Blue for seven seasons (he had started with the 31 on his back, launched by Carlo Ancelotti). It was also his number at Juventus for five years. A probably obvious choice for him, while there were only 2 or 4 left available in the squad. Rabiot wears 14 in the French team but it is Faris Moumbagna’s number.
Rabiot for OL-OM?
Two months after his last match (the Euro semi-final lost against Spain, 2-1), Rabiot will quickly take part in training under Roberto De Zerbi but will need several weeks to be fully operational. He is unlikely to have significant playing time for Olympico at Groupama Stadium, Sunday (8:45 p.m.). The current 2nd in Ligue 1 follows with a trip to Strasbourg before hosting Angers on October 4. The OM-PSG Classic is scheduled for October 27!
OM pulled off a masterstroke before recruiting Rabiot, a free agent, after a quality and very expensive recruitment with Mason Greenwood and Elie Wahi at 25 million euros each (as well as Jonathan Rowe at 17 and Ismaël Koné at 12). Adrien Rabiot and his mother Véronique accepted a salary lower than the 7 or 8 million euros per year demanded from interested clubs during the summer. Didier Deschamps’s executive would be happy with half of his Juventus emoluments but receiving a signing bonus as well as bonuses during the second season.
