Sign him for free. Buy him for 60-70m next summer. 
Adrien Rabiot / completing formalities at Juventus
- Thread starter Red Indian Chief Torn Rubber
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He's not.
He's something between a holding midfielder and a ball distributor. And the quality gap between PSG and the rest of Ligue 1 can't really tell us if he's able to stamp his authority in the midfield twice a week from mid-August to late April. Even when you take all his personality issues out of the equation, he remains a gamble because of the wages he'll demand and because he'll be coming to a side -and a midfield- that is very problematic and directionless.
He will provide more stability on the ball and better defensive cover next to Matic in a 4231 than Fred does. But in terms of key passes and creativity, he won't make much of a difference. And this can be a problem because, if Pogba stays, we're talking about a very immobile midfield which will be able to keep the ball and rotate it but the creativity will have to come from the wide areas. And with who we have in the FB and Winger roles, that's not happening any time soon.
He would be a much better fit for a side that provides the platform for him to see lots of the ball in the midfield with others carrying the burden of creativity. He could play for City as their deepest midfielder or in KdB or Silva's place when Pep wants to turn down the volume (less pressing/safer recycling of the ball) a bit. For example, he would be a nice option to come from the bench when City had the scoreline they wanted against Spurs in the CL QF.
In our mess, i can't think of what he would make significantly better in our midfield.
At the moment we have matic and either mctom or fred as two of the three starters.
There's not huge levels to improve on
The boy doesn't have a choice on where he's gonna be deployed. It's time for him to saddle down and do the talking on the pitch.
Get him, Fernandes and, at some point (ideally this summer but being reasonable) a holding midfielder and a midfield 2 and diamond set ups are sorted
Good talent, just not sure about the attitude. Hopefully Ole knows what he's doing, if our interest is serious.
Rice
Longstaff / Tielemans
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"He rarely let PSG down on the pitch"
As a squad option he is decent, and can really replace matic in the squad who i think is a deadwood with what we saw near season ending.
He would still have to play next to a CDM.
I wouldn't want to see him play with Matic and Pogba.
We've either got to take a slight gamble on McTominay and start him more or sell Matic and replace him.
Could be interesting.
I wouldn't want to see him play with Matic and Pogba.
We've either got to take a slight gamble on McTominay and start him more or sell Matic and replace him.
McTominay Rabiot
Pogba
Pogba
Could be interesting.
Surely he would slot in to Herrera’s place in the midfield three:
Rabiot - DM - Pogba
Rabiot - DM - Pogba
Perhaps but i don't think he'll come here to be just a squad option. And tactically he's not good enough defensively to screen our back-four. Both because there are weaknesses to his game as a holding midfielder and because our defensive line is in desperate need of good cover in front of them (they're average themselves). He would simply get lost in the mediocrity that surrounds him unless we improve everywhere on the pitch.
Yep, Rice would be my preferred choice.
Well he will have to reconcile on some issues. He wants high salary, he wants a top tier club with high ambitions, he can't get his way on every one of his demands. I agree tactically he is not good enough to screen our back 4 alone but he is a useful player though specially when played in a 2 with defensive midfielder next to him which we should buy in my opinion.
We are in need of quality and quality in depth in that contingent as we have let herrera and fellani go, and have matic who looks a dead wood to me. He needs to full fill his ambitions as well, and certainly would be better than matic defensively in my opinion.
Both the club and himself has to compromise on some issues to get it done. It's not that Madrid or barca or bayern are keen to get him as well, his only options will be us arsenal and Liverpool. Juventus dont seem interested.
I am of the view of taking him for free though we have to cast out matic and he should fill his place. If it's just him replacing matic in starting line up he isn't good enough to screen it on his own.
Maybe a double pivot Rabiot & Fred with Pogba/Bruno or other for the attacking role.
this could work, I feel like Fred vs PSG showed me has the ability to be a ball winner, but would need someone much better in possession next to him. Rabiot and Fernandes would be my realistic, ideal signings, right now.
Scary seeing Mctominay in peoples ideal starting 11 for next season.
I can agree with this, especially the bold part. If he's going to be a part of a whole restructuring in the midfield, then yeah, he has things to offer.
In tactical European games with football on the ground yes, but in Epl with physical long ball end to end stuff by opposition? No.
True, but that's where we bring Scotty back in
Nightmare !
Unless Ole wants to be sacked he will keep that threesome well apart , different countries preferably . I cannot seriously believe we are in for him considering the issues we have with prima donnas already at the club
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Or Longstaff who hasnt had half a season for Newcastle.
People, Rabiot doesn’t want to play DM. It’s well known.
yeah, not like he deserves it or anything
Because he showed a bit of promise for a month or two?yeah, not like he deserves it or anything
Because he was one of our better midfielders last season. Fred was shite, Matic was shite, Herrera's going, Pereira isn't good enough for me. Not sure who you're expecting to be there instead, but you'll most likely be disappointed.
Do we even play with a DM? He can play Herreras role. (better)
I'm getting a bad feeling about this one...hope we aren't repeating the Sanchez situation or even worse...at least he tried...Rabiot may be coming with a chip on his shoulder too.
Just certain people a mentioning him taking Matic’s role or being in pivot with Fred. He wants to play further up the pitch.
He can play along side a DM in a two or at 8 as well. We need a squad.
Well that's hardly an ringing endorsement.
I like him personally, reminds me of fletcher a bit. I get that he won't get the juices flowing in a fantasy XI, but he had great games, in big games for us last season and was more dependable than most of our squad. He's going to be in the first team next season. Even if we're signing 2 proper CMs, not including Fernandes, Scott will still most likely start.
McTominay is not good enough. Brave as he is, his actual quality on the ball isn’t up to it. He’s perhaps one who can be brought in for specialist games to add energy and bite.
I'd agree that if he turned out anything like Fletcher (at his peak at least) we'd be doing pretty well.
And you know this by being his inner conscience? I’ve also seen some stuff about the topic but nothing more than speculation if I remember correctly?
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/club...biot-at-early-crossroads-for-club-and-country
Unai Emery also said that Rabiot prefers to be box to box.
I bet he prefers some position than another which is absolutely normal, but anything more from that article is pure speculation. And it wouldn’t surprise me if it’s propaganda pushed by PSG, they are a classless bunch, on top of Rabiot not being perfect.
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The following is from someone from Reddit regarding the outlets reliability.
"TF1 is S tier in regards to French players and players in the French league. They’re the most reliable source of info from here. They only have a weekly show so no reason to post bullshit"
S tier = the very top tier..
His YouTube compilation supports box to box role theory.
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