Manchester United have reportedly missed out on one of their summer transfer targets after the teenage midfielder followed Jurgen Klopp's advice about his future
Stephen Killen Senior Sports Content Creator and Matthew Abbott
16:08, 04 Feb 2026
Jurgen Klopp laughs during an AFP interview at RB Leipzig's headquarters
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Jurgen Klopp has had the last laugh over Man United(Image: RONNY HARTMANN, AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester United will not be signing Patrick Zabi this summer as the teenage midfielder looks set to complete a move to Paris FC. French media suggest Man United were among several elite European clubs tracking the Stade Reims player.
Zabi, 19, has heeded Red Bull's head of global soccer, Jurgen Klopp's, advice. He will join the Parisian club, who are partly owned by the energy drink brand. The Ligue 1 side have won the battle for his signature in a deal worth £21.6million, with the transfer expected to go through this summer.
Zabi has attracted widespread acclaim since his senior bow last February. The midfielder has made 24 first-team outings while finding the net twice and providing three assists.
Michael Carrick
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Man United reportedly missed out on Patrick Zabi as Paris FC snapped his signature(Image: Getty)
L'Equipe reports that Paris beat Man United and fellow Premier League clubs Bournemouth and Newcastle United to land his services. The promising talent also caught the eye of Italian giants Fiorentina, Inter and Milan. While his next club is not yet official, the report indicates it is just a matter of time.
The journalist Sascha Tavolieri suggests that Jurgen Klopp's involvement swayed Zabi's choice to agree a deal with the French club, who sit 14th in the country's premier division. Paris, located just a short distance from Paris Saint-Germain, were bought by the Arnault family in 2024, who claimed the top spot on the global billionaires' rich list that same year.
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The agreement featured a minority shareholding for Red Bull, with former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp overseeing proceedings. He has moved into a consultancy role as their head of global soccer, where he provides guidance on their worldwide expansion and development, and as a result, he has reportedly played a key part in pipping the likes of Man United and Newcastle to land his signature.
Jurgen Klopp
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Jurgen Klopp spent nine seasons managing Liverpool before moving to Red Bull(Image: Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
Klopp is loving his new role a year into the job. He said: "I love it. I love being part of it, not in the middle of it. I'm in a place as a person [where I'm] completely at peace with where I am. I don’t want to be somewhere else.”
The former Liverpool boss says: "I learned a lot in the last year. I went to business plan meetings – so many words I’ve never heard before in my life!”
He also told The Athletic: "When I started this job, nobody really had an idea of how it would look. It was the same for me.
Former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp
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Jurgen Klopp has been keeping busy since leaving Liverpool(Image: Zac Goodwin/PA Wire)
"I'm Jurgen Klopp, but I had no clue what that meant, to be honest. As a football coach, I knew exactly — but what did that mean for the rest of my life?
"I'm pretty sure a lot of people thought: he wants to have an easy time, not coach anymore, travel a bit — stuff like that — but I know myself well enough to understand that I would not be happy like that."
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Klopp explained his role: "It's an advisory role, but with power. But I'm not a person who shoots from far away. So that means I listen and rely a lot on the people at the clubs. I calm things down in some moments, and make decisions in others."