Why Tottenham Hotspur must go all out to sign Adrien Rabiot
Tottenham Hotspur suffered a humiliating loss against Liverpool on Saturday and are already six points away from the top of the table. To compound their troubles, they also gave up a 1-0 lead to lose 2-1 to Inter Milan in their Champions League opener.
As things stand, Spurs have quite a thin squad. They finished third last season and had the perfect opportunity to strengthen their side in the summer. However, the Londoners became the first club in the history of the Premier League to not purchase a single player in the summer transfer window. Their decision to do so has already started to backfire.
French outlet L’equipe has claimed that Adrien Rabiot, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder who was on Spurs’ radar in the summer, has rejected the chance to renew his contract with the French champions. If this is true, Spurs have a chance to redeem themselves.
Rabiot is a 23-year-old midfielder, who came through PSG’s academy. Over the past seasons, he has established himself as an integral part of the first-team squad.
In PSG’s title-winning season of 2017/18, he made 33 appearances in the league, scoring one goal and assisting 5 more. But it is his ball retention abilities that are immensely impressive. He keeps thing simple in the base of the midfield and often tries to find his more extravagant teammates like Neymar, Angel Di Maria and Kylian Mbappe. His range of passing is also an asset, evidenced by the fact that he made 30 key passes across all competitions last season.
One of the main areas of concern for Spurs is their midfield. Mousa Dembele is 31 already and has less than a year left on his contract. Victor Wanyama has been troubled with injuries for more than a year now and has failed to nail a regular spot in the starting XI. Meanwhile, Eric Dier has fallen way short of expectations.
As Rabiot has entered the final 12 months of his contract, Spurs could sign him on a cut-price deal in January. His arrival could help Spurs in the second half of the season when the FA Cup kicks in and the race for the top-four intensifies. And at 23 years of age, he could be the ideal midfield maestro for the club for years to come.
