'Medical booked' - West Ham, Arsenal and Spurs beaten to free transfer of 'crazy' French international

West Ham tired and failed to 'seduce' French international Adrien Rabiot this summer as the London outfit attempted to hijack the midfielder's potential move to Manchester United.

The 29-year-old has ended up making the move back to his home country following the expiration of his Juventus contract with Marseille poised to sign the player this week. The former PSG man, who has made 48 appearances for France, is set to put pen to paper on a two-year deal in the south of France.

Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano took to social media platform X on Monday and wrote: "Olympique Marseille have booked travel and medical for Adrien Rabiot as he will sign two year deal at the club. The project presented by Longoria, Benatia and de Zerbi has convinced the French international, as revealed yesterday."

French outlet L'Equipe are also reporting on the imminent transfer and provide more context as to why a move to the Premier League didn't happen for Rabiot, whose Juventus deal expired on June 30th. The report claims that the midfielder has spent 'months' looking for a deal.

Rabiot made 35 appearances in all competitions for Juventus last season, picking up five goals and three assists from central midfield - former Juventus star Giancarlo Marocchi praised the player’s ‘crazy’ creativity and ‘leader’ qualities last December.

European football was a priority for Rabiot, which put Manchester United and Atletico Madrid in pole position. It is believed that the Red Devils offered the player a four-year deal.

L'Equipe add that West Ham 'tried to seduce' the free agent and were joined by Galatasaray in those attempts. However, a lack of European football made those Hammers enquiries futile. There was also interest from Saudi Arabia but that is not thought to have ever been a viable option for Rabiot.

Last week, with the player still looking for a club, it was thought that Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur had been offered his services. teamTALK had reported that North London rivals Arsenal and Spurs have both been contacted on the player's behalf about a potential free transfer.

It is thought that the Frenchman's wage demands had proved problematic in negotiations over the summer but that, with the season well underway, he had become open to accepting a lower offer in order to be playing again, having been left out of France's Nations League squad this month.