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Tottenham and Arsenal Reportedly Set to Battle for PSG's Adrien Rabiot
July 3, 2018
Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly interested in signing Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Adrien Rabiot.
According to France Football (h/t the Mirror), Spurs manager Mauricio Pochettino views the Frenchman as a successor to Mousa Dembele, but there could be competition from north London rivals Arsenal, who have also been linked with the 23-year-old.
Rabiot's current PSG contract has only one more year left to run, and he admitted back in April that he did not know whether he would still be at the club next season, per Canal+ (h/t Jaime Candil of AS).
Dembele turns 31 later this month and only has a year remaining on his contract with Spurs.
Per the Daily Mirror (h/t The Independent's Jack Pitt-Brooke), Spurs are prepared to listen to offers for the Belgian, and he has been linked with a move to China or Italy.
Dembele's departure would leave a big hole in Spurs' midfield as he has been a key player for the Premier League side since joining from Fulham in 2012 for £15 million.
Despite his relative youth, Rabiot is already an experienced player and has made almost 150 Ligue 1 appearances for PSG since making his senior debut in 2012.
The France international is still quite raw and has yet to fulfil his potential, but he does boast many attributes that could make him a big asset at Spurs, not least his impressive passing ability, per WhoScored.com:
Rabiot is defensively solid and positionally astute, while he can also chip in with the odd goal.
Pochettino is a manager who improves the players who work with him, and he likely feels he can get the best out of Rabiot.
The main stumbling block to Spurs signing the Frenchman could be his transfer fee, although PSG can't afford to drive too hard a bargain given he has only a year remaining on his contract.