Adrien Rabiot to Manchester United would be a long time coming but possibly worth the wait

The impression you get of Adrien Rabiot's mother and agent Veronique is she is a cross between Judy Murray and the mother played by Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate.

Once it became apparent her son had decided to leave Paris Saint-Germain, the club's chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi was said to be relieved he would not have to deal with Veronique again.

There are nuances to Veronique's parental protection. Rabiot's father, Michel, suffered a stroke in 2007 and he developed locked-in syndrome.

Also read: United agree fee for Rabiot

"The only thing he has asked is to complete his contract and that it is respected," Veronique told L'Equipe three years ago. "They fined him for not travelling to Qatar when his grandmother died and his father was dying.

"We are a great team because we never doubt each other."

As Sir Alex Ferguson once advised: "The mothers are always the strong ones in the family, without question. I say always, 'Get the mother'." Or Veronique will get you.

Manchester United have agreed a fee of £15million rising to £20m in principle with Juventus for Rabiot and his mooted move would be a long time coming.

Veronique expressed her surprise United did not enter the bidding late in the summer 2014 transfer window when Rabiot's move to Roma collapsed, only Louis van Gaal was holding out for the recuperating Roma midfielder Kevin Strootman.

Rabiot travelled to Manchester as a 13-year-old - a year after his father had a stroke - to train with City's academy in 2008 but lasted six months as Veroniqiue fell out with a staff member. Four years later, Carlo Ancelotti invited Rabiot to train with the PSG first-team.

The circumstances of United's Rabiot approach are troubling. From the outside, they appear