Report: Tottenham still have a shot at Rabiot in January

So all of you thought that the Adrien Rabiot links were finally over, right? Reports emerged last week that the Frenchman, long a target for Tottenham Hotspur and currently banished from the PSG first team over contract issues, had spurned Spurs’ advances and had signed a pre-contract with Barcelona.

That’s all she wrote, right? Maybe not! Paris United FC, a blog that focuses on PSG news and rumors, says that Rabiot and his mom-agent (“momgent?”) are actively in the process of torpedoing the Barcelona deal to the extent that Barca are starting to have second thoughts, and that Spurs are still in with a shout if PSG has anything to say about it.

There’s an article, too! Here’s what it has to say (translation mine/Google):

This is quite problematic for Paris Saint-Germain, which, for its part, wants a sale in January. Moreover, Spurs are ready to buy Rabiot this January with the key to a 3-year contract and a salary of 8 million euros, without any signing bonus but with a fairly large amount for PSG .

The Rabiot clan rejects this proposal for the moment, because it is financially well below the Catalan proposals, to the chagrin of PSG which is on board with the proposal from North London. This is not the case with the one from Spain, which is obviously less interesting.

Let’s pretend, just for a moment, that there’s some truth to this. Why? Because we just lost a match, desperately need a midfield, and hope is a good thing. €8m works out to about £130k/week — high, to be sure, but significantly lower than Harry Kane and probably in the ballpark of what players like Dele Alli, Hugo Lloris, and Son Heung-Min are making. Heck, Moussa Sissoko is reportedly close to £100k/week, and after a summer of no signings, it seems likely Spurs can squirrel up that kind of dough, especially if PSG cut us a good deal on a transfer fee.

Yes, Rabiot is messy and fully of simmering drama, potentially a shithead, and comes with both bags of talent and a reportedly pushy momgent. He’s also an utterly fantastic player in a position of extreme need — central midfield. With Rabiot in midfield, I think it’s possible that Spurs could make a real push for the title. He comes with a certain amount of risk. At this point, I think he’s worth that risk.

Let’s be clear here — this article is firmly in the realm of speculation and rumor. But that’s why you’re here, right? I think it’s more likely that Rabiot eventually signs for Barcelona than ends up at Tottenham in January. However, there are signs that PSG is willing to offload Rabiot to Spurs (especially after we’ve already taken a couple of its “problem children” off its hands for them in the form of Serge Aurier and Lucas Moura). And Rabiot would instantly upgrade Spurs’ team.

I say, if there’s a chance of landing this kid, Spurs should go for it. Swing for the fences. Audere est facere. Let’s go sign Adrien Rabiot, win the Premier League, and be legends.