Manchester United new boy Adrien Rabiot was once in Man City's academy

Adrien Rabiot's imminent move to Manchester United has become one of the transfer stories of the summer, but it isn't the first time the 27-year-old midfielder has been coveted in the city.

After impressing as a youth for French side Creteil, a 13-year-old Rabiot was noticed by scouts and invited to join Manchester City's youth setup in 2008.

Travelling over to the UK alongside his mother and agent, Veronique Rabiot, the teenager joined the Manchester City Academy, then under the stewardship of Jim Cassell.

However, after spending just sixth months with the club, and amidst a bout of homesickness, Rabiot would ultimately opt to leave Manchester to return to his native France.

Speaking later about his experience, Rabiot would offer an insight in to what had gone wrong during his time at the club.

'Everything was going well, but after six months, the club did not respect certain agreements, so my mother said 'Stop' and we went home,' he said in 2020.

It is believed that the disagreements between the elder Rabiot and Manchester City were related to Veronique wanting assurances from the club for her son that would have breached FIFA regulations on foreign players.

After returning to France, Rabiot would turn out for more local clubs before joining PSG's youth set-up in 2010, eventually breaking into the first team at the Parisian club.

Following a nine-year stint in the French capital, Rabiot would join Juventus in 2019 during the short reign of Maurizio Sarri at the club.

Since then the French international has made more than 100 appearances in all competitions for the Old Lady.

Rabiot is expected to complete a deal reportedly worth £15million to join Erik ten Hag's Manchester United, with talks ongoing between the club and Veronique regarding personal terms.

The club earmarked the former PSG star as an option after it emerged that top target Frenkie de Jong now looks set to join Thomas Tuchel's Chelsea after months of speculation regarding his future.