Tottenham have last laugh as Adrien Rabiot changes mind after brutal rejection with the aim of strengthening the squad
France international Adrien Rabiot has offered himself to Tottenham, six years on from rejecting the club in brutal fashion by declaring that they weren’t good enough to sign him
Adrien Rabiot rejected a move to Tottenham in brutal fashion just a few years ago, but now he’s come crawling back. The transfer window might have closed but Rabiot, who’s currently a free agent after leaving Juventus in July, is still eligible for a move somewhere.
According to TBR Football, the Frenchman, 29, has offered himself to both Tottenham and Arsenal in a bid to secure passage back in from the cold. He has offers on the table from clubs in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but it’s understood his preference is to sign for a team in one of Europe’s top leagues.
However, Rabiot’s wage demands could end up scuppering such a move, with reports suggesting the midfielder is asking for around £220,000-a-week. To put that into context, Tottenham’s highest-earner, Son Heung-min, is on £190k-a-week, while just five Spurs players are earning more than £100k-a-week.
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Ange Postecoglou’s side were busy bees over the summer. Not only did they break their transfer record to sign Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke for £65million, they splashed a further £71m on four supremely talented youngsters.
What presents an issue for Rabiot is that two of those youngsters, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, play in central midfield, which probably means Spurs won’t be too desperate to take the France international up on his come-and-get-me plea, particularly with the likes of Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma also in the squad.
Nonetheless, Rabiot’s predicament represents quite the turnaround given that he claimed Spurs were “below” his level when they tried to sign him in 2018. Back then, Rabiot was looking for a way out of Paris Saint Germain after falling out with the club’s newly-appointed manager, and soon-to-be Chelsea boss, Thomas Tuchel.
Interest in him was high, with some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Barcelona and Juventus, pushing to secure his signature – which might explain his indifference towards a move to Tottenham. That said, the north London club were on the ascendency at the time.
Mauricio Pochettino had established them as Premier League title-challengers, and they were regulars in the Champions League. A few months later they reached the Champions League final for the very first time too, but it wasn’t enough to coax Rabiot to N17.
He ended up joining Juventus on a free transfer at the end of the 2018/19 season, while Spurs signed Tanguy Ndombele. In Turin, Rabiot quickly established himself as a first team regular, and his club form helped him finally nail down a starting spot in Didier Deschamps’ France team.
However, he was dropped from the latest squad, with Deschamps reportedly keen for Rabiot to get regular club football under his belt before bringing him back into the fold. As things stand, unless the former Manchester City academy star is willing to lower his wage demands, a move away from Europe looks likeliest.
