Barcelona Reportedly Made Adrien Rabiot Approach at World Cup Final

Barcelona reportedly sent a team of delegates to the 2018 FIFA World Cup final hoping to meet with Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi regarding a move for Adrien Rabiot this summer. 

Mundo Deportivo (h/t Bruce Archer of the Daily Express) reported technical secretary Eric Abidal was one of four Barca officials sent to discuss the deal at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, but they were "unable to make inroads" with the PSG chief.

Central midfielder Rabiot has been touted as one of Barca's top targets in recent weeks, with the Blaugrana hoping to secure reinforcements after Andres Iniesta joined Japanese club Vissel Kobe and Paulinho returned to China.

There was recently a suggestion that new PSG manager Thomas Tuchel would be willing to cut ties with Rabiot, who is in the final year of his contract at the Parc des Princes, per Le Parisien (h/t Get French Football News):

However, it's more recently emerged that PSG are keen to enforce the notion that they aren't a selling club and are thus prepared to run Rabiot's contract down, per Ramiro Aldunate of Marca. 

Abidal is believed to be an admirer of his compatriot, who has shown some attitude concerns in recent years and refused to be on France's standby squad before they beat Croatia to win the World Cup on Sunday.

According to writer Andrew Gaffney, the Camp Nou looks like the only plausible destination for Rabiot, 23, in the event he does leave Paris this summer:

It's believed Barcelona's controversial pursuit of Marco Verratti last summer, which resulted in a defiant response from Les Parisiens, took a toll on the relationship between the two clubs.

Barca have already secured the services of 21-year-old midfielder Arthur from Gremio this summer, replacing Paulinho as a non-EU-registered player after the Brazilian agreed to rejoin Chinese side Guangzhou Evergrande.

Rabiot averaged a 92.9 per cent pass success rate in Ligue 1 last season, per WhoScored.com—Thiago Motta and Julian Draxler were the only PSG midfielders to average higher—and Football Radars detailed his other strengths:

Aldunate also discussed how PSG's recent sales activity has alleviated their previous concerns regarding compliance with financial fair play, meaning they're under no desperate need to cash in.

After missing out on the meetings they sought at the Luzhniki Stadium, Barcelona will have to follow protocol and go through the proper channels if they're to bag Rabiot and land one of their major targets this summer.