Adrien Rabiot’s mother/agent says her son will ultimately make a decision on whether or not he chooses to remain at Juventus. Veronique Rabiot gave a lengthy interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport, where she explained her motivations for managing her sons career and what the future will hold for the pair:
When did you decide to follow your son’s career?
“There was no specific moment. Adrien wanted to be a professional footballer at the age of six. He said he wanted to be professional even then. When he was 9, he told me he was going to play for the national team. All his coaches, starting with the first one, a woman, Martine, told me he had a gift, but it was only when Psg came forward that things became serious. I was contacted by agents and intermediaries, but the first negotiation I conducted alone with Manchester City. When Adrien signed as a professional with Psg at the age of 17, I left my job and dedicated myself to this new activity. It was natural, induced by circumstances.
Did you ever feel penalised because you were a woman and also mother of a player in the macho world of football?
‘Personally, I have never had the perception of a macho world of football towards me. I have always been treated with respect by my interlocutors, starting with the president of Psg, Nasser Al Khelaifi and Carlo Ancelotti, whom I met three times when Adrien was a minor at Psg. I can’t say the same thing about certain media and personalities who don’t conceive that a woman, plus a mother, is like a father managing his son’s career. Sometimes, however, it depends on one’s attitude and character. Today fortunately there are many more women in football, on TV, as agents, as referees’.
You have the reputation of being a fearsome negotiator.
‘I am, but negotiating comes naturally to me and I enjoy it. Maybe those who dealt with me at the beginning didn’t expect me to be tough. I don’t fit into patterns. I’m a straightforward person, when I say one thing it’s that and I can break it off if I don’t feel the same clarity in front of me. Generally, though, it’s easier to negotiate for a talented player like Adrien. It is more deserving to find a club for average players. But it’s a job I’m passionate about and it has allowed me to experience great emotions in the stadiums, to meet interesting people like Adriano Galliani, who wanted Adrien at AC Milan in 2014.”
How do you learn to manage a world-class player without him getting a head rush?
“I was once told that a player is like a Formula 1 car, you have to adjust it to the millimetre so that it doesn’t jam. I was shocked because you compare a man to a car, but it is a pertinent metaphor. Like me, Adrien however has his head on his shoulders and his feet on the ground. However, the media and fans should understand that to get and stay at these levels you need a lot of sacrifice and hard work. Instead, I find it unfair that players are never allowed to make mistakes because they earn so much. After all, when they start out they are just teenagers who can make mistakes to grow up. We all did stupid things at their age. We need more tolerance. Adrien, for example, was made to suffer for years for some delays when he was a boy. That doesn’t make him unprofessional’.
Has your ‘client’ Rabiot never asked you for anything specific?
‘When he was 17 I could have got a lot more from Psg because there were already several English clubs who wanted him, but he wasn’t thinking about money: he wanted to start his professional career at his training club, with Ancelotti and go straight into training. So the negotiation with Leonardo, who was threatening to send him to Primavera, was quick and we stayed in Paris. It was his choice, even then’. Adrien, who has just returned from a double training session with Juventus, sits on the sofa at home, listens with interest and intervenes: ‘Generally, if I don’t have specific requests that we might discuss together beforehand, I rely on his way of negotiating, knowing his personality and character’. Resumes Véronique: “Adrien knows me better than anyone, and it’s mutual. I know that he would never purposely hurt an opponent and he knows that I only act in his interest. We have always divided the roles: him on the field, I do the rest. Today maybe we discuss things differently, because he’s not a kid anymore’.
In Paris, you were criticised for being present at all trainings.
“I don’t think Messi’s dad has ever been criticised for taking care of his son. Nor was Neymar’s in Brazil. It’s a problem of the French media. I’ve been accompanying Adrien to training since he was six years old. I did it at Psg because at 17 he didn’t have a licence and was authorised by the club: there were other family members or agents, so for example I soon met Stefano, Verratti’s brother. Seeing Adrien in the first team was also a reward for my work: I remember the first training session on his birthday, it was wonderful. It was also a way to discover a world I didn’t know.
Do you feel hurt when it is insinuated in the media that you are a suffocating mother?
‘No. When I’m in Turin, it’s normal for me to live at home with him and his two brothers. We are a close family, the house is big, well distributed and everyone has their own space. Anyone who thinks Adrien is a little boy who is a succubus of his mother is missing the point. He has always had clear ideas and a strong personality: just ask his teammates. In any case, I would never have delegated my son’s education to strangers in a training centre. I always had a very clear idea of how to raise my children, of the values to pass on, of the importance of studies. For example, during the training camps with the national team’s youth team, I imposed a Federation tutor on Adrien: he didn’t like it, but there was no alternative”. Adrien reiterates: “I don’t find anything wrong with a parent being present and I think it is reassuring for a club to know that one of its players is not at the mercy of strangers or agents with other priorities. If I had children, I would also go to see their training sessions.
Ms Rabiot, how do you distinguish between the roles of mother and counsellor?
“Sometimes they overlap. In negotiations, however, I never say ‘my son’, but ‘Adrien’. For years I have asked him not to pose shirtless on social media: as a mother I consider it indecent, as an advisor I fear for his image. Then he always does his own thing, maybe making me angry. When we talk about work we don’t have meetings: we evaluated the renewal with Juventus in our house in the south of France, while we were at the table’.
It was written that Manchester United gave up on Rabiot because you were asking for a€10 million commission.
“All false. United wanted to meet me to explain their interest in Adrien, but we never talked about money in detail because he quickly decided to stay in Turin. There was never any real negotiation and we are on very good terms with Manchester United.”
Why did you choose Juventus in 2019?
“Juventus considered him their first choice, they’d been chasing us for years, literally: the Bianconeri emissaries found me where I least expected it, outside the stadiums, in the stands. Allegri really wanted him and there is a very cordial and professional relationship with Federico Cherubini’.
But the first year was complicated.
“Allegri was replaced by Sarri. Adrien didn’t play at the beginning and in January we considered leaving. Then things improved, also with the arrival of Pirlo who helped him to progress, and finally with the return of Allegri for whom we had basically come to Turin.”
With his contract expiring, Adrien only renewed for one year: this is usually done for players at the end of their careers. How much did the European Championship count on the horizon?
“It was my idea. At the beginning the club didn’t agree, but I got an extra year with a substantial increase (around 8 million euros net, ed.). It is an innovative renewal. The European Championship is only one element. Adrien’s path at Juventus should not be underestimated, his commitment, his weight in the team’.
Could this type of agreement be repeated at the end of the season?
“It’s too early to talk about the future. At the right time we will weigh everything up, and in the end Adrien always decides.”
Have there never been disagreements with his ‘client’, for example, over the refusal of sponsors?
“Money has never been his driving force. On sponsors it is his personal choice that I respect. Maybe we will talk about that later.”
As a mother and advisor, what do you think of Adrien Rabiot?
“I am proud that he has become a beautiful person, intelligent, polite, elegant, realising his childhood dreams of being a professional footballer and playing in the national team. As a mum, I hope he wins the Ballon d’Or one day’.
Today, it is more common for families to take care of players’ careers. What do you recommend?
‘Family contexts are not always positive, but in general I don’t find anything strange about it. Sometimes I see 11-year-olds already with an agent: that’s crazy. I advise families to rely on competent people to manage the various aspects of a career, but to keep the decision-making power. And to never delegate education because it is already complicated to raise them under normal conditions’.
Last question to the ‘customer’ Adrien Rabiot: Are you satisfied with Véronique Rabiot’s work?
Adrien thinks about it for a few moments. “She has always been up to the task, despite knowing nothing about this world at the beginning. She has been able to adapt and defend my interests to the best of her ability, surrounding herself with capable people. So far my career has gone quite well. If I had not been satisfied with her, I would have taken someone else’.
