Moroccan Star Rejects United Switch In Favour Of Lucrative Move To Middle East

Moroccan Star Rejects United Switch In Favour Of Lucrative Move To Middle East

Juventus defender Mehdi Benatia has rejected a move to Manchester United, according to reports in Italy.

The Moroccan international has struggled for game time this season and has been given permission to leave the Serie A club during the January transfer window.

In need of strengthening in the centre of defence, United reportedly made an £8.6m offer for Benatia which Juve promptly accepted.


However, it appears the 31-year-old was not happy with the personal terms offered by the Red Devils. He wanted in excess of €4m a year (£3.45m) but was only offered €3.7m (£3.2m).

Instead, Benatia will be off to Qatar to play for Al-Duhail. The centre-back will reportedly arrive in the country on Monday for a medical before finalising his move away from Juve.

Arsenal were also believed to be interested in the Moroccan but it seems he could not turn down a lucrative move to the Middle East as he nears the end of his career.

David Tully

David Tully

David has worked as a football reporter for the last fifteen years. Having started as an intern at Snack Media, he then went on to become a freelancer, working on various different sites. At the start of 2023, he took up his current role as content writer for National World's Football News Network.