'I can end everything' - Meet the fearsome agent of Liverpool transfer 'target' who's also his mum

“He takes to the pitch, I take the rest.” Agent Veronique Rabiot has built up a fearsome reputation on the continent that has left the hierarchies of some of Europe's biggest clubs shuddering.

Her son, Adrien, is more known within the wider football public and is currently trying to reach the third international knockout phase of his career with France at Euro 2024. His situation at Juventus is less clear.

The midfielder’s contract in Turin expires this week and a renewal has not yet been agreed. Reports in Italy claim the 29-year-old could be headed for the Premier League, suggesting that Liverpool have made contact with the playmaker.

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Ever since missing the 2018 World Cup triumph with his country, having removed himself from the standby list, Rabiot has been an ever-present in the French line-up albeit is rarely circled as one of the country’s most elite members.

Yet all 13 of his previous appearances have been starts, a run that extends back to the 2022 World Cup. He has only scored once in that time but it is his other work that has Didier Deschamps calling upon his services time and again.

“He’s changed a bit, he’s taken something away and today he’s a complete midfielder,” said the France boss prior to the player’s World Cup B-list withdrawal.

“He is said to be a balanced player, but he is capable of doing as well in defence as in attack. He’s smart, he always knows where he needs to be.”

Rabiot has shown just that in both of his outings at Euro 2024, helping France to keep clean sheets across the fixtures. Things have not always been as smooth at club level.

Mother Veronique is a fierce negotiator, as admitted by herself. “Negotiating comes naturally to me and I like it. Maybe those who dealt with me at the beginning didn’t expect me to be tough,” she told Italian publication La Gazzetta dello Sport in November.

“I don’t fit the mould. I’m a direct person, when I say one thing it’s that and I can end everything if I don’t feel the same clarity ahead.”

Veronique unleashed a scathing assessment of Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi ahead of Rabiot’s exit in 2019 amid a giant fall-out that saw him barred from first-team training after going clubbing and liking Patrice Evra’s tweet celebrating PSG’s defeat to Manchester United in the Champions League.

Rabiot had not played since the prior December when it became clear the player would not sign a renewal at the club, all of which led to his mother saying he had become a “hostage” and a “prisoner” at the club.

Then that April, she declared Al-Khelaifi had “instilled a poison in his team” due to the situation. Closer to home, United agreed an initial £15m with Juventus for Rabiot in 2022 but talks ultimately broke down. Reports mooted Veronique had demanded a large agent fee.

“All false,” she declared a few months later. “United wanted to meet me to illustrate their interest in Adrien. But we never talked about money in detail because he quickly decided to stay in Turin. There were never any real negotiations, and we are on excellent terms with Manchester United.”

It is unsure what lies ahead for Rabiot, with conflicting reports over whether Juventus will offer him a renewal. What is certain is that his contract expires on June 30 and he is allowed to speak to other clubs.

Giving an update on his future last week, Rabiot said: “The idea was to determine my future before the start of the European Championship, but there was little time at the end of the season, and I left early.

“Once with the national team I wanted to concentrate on the objective and put everything else in the background. There are people who work for me. What I would like to do in the future I’ll keep to myself for now, but I’m not worried about my future.”

If Liverpool are to land Rabiot, they will need to appease his mother and agent Veronique. “I am an authoritarian person, it is true,” she said in 2022. “Not what is described in the media… But I have a thick skin. I have nothing to prove.”