They say that Mother knows best and in 2014 Veronique Rabiot stood her ground, fighting her son’s corner and then looking on with glee as 19-year-old Adrien signed a new five-year-deal at Paris Saint-Germain.
Fast forward 15 months and, not for the first-time, the young midfielder is being linked with a move away from the French capital. Manchester United are reportedly preparing a €28 million (Dh112m) move, Arsenal have been linked with trying to take Rabiot on loan and the likes of Inter Milan, Roma and others are never far behind.
“I am very happy to remain a player of Paris Saint-Germain, the club that made me the player I am today, ” Rabiot told the club’s Official website back in 2014, holding a shirt on which ‘2019’ was printed. “I would like to thank the president who kept discussions open in recent months and the sporting management for his support. Now I want to concentrate on my football, on my game and give my best for Paris Saint-Germain on the pitch and for the supporters.”
It was quite the U-turn from what was being said in the summer of 2014. With his contract running down, it looked like another of PSG’s French prospects was set to leave the club.
“I think he has a great opportunity at PSG but his entourage don’t want to take any notice and want to take advantage of his contractual situation,” Laurent Blanc told the press in July that year. “I think there must be offers. He had a very nice offer from PSG but apparently it’s not interesting. It’s a shame.”
At the time, Tottenham Hotspur were heavily linked with a loan move for the France youth international, driven by his mum’s desire to see her son’s career flourish.
“He needs to play regularly in high-level matches,” she told Le Parisien in response to Blanc’s comments.
“Since February he has only started five times in the league and once in the Champions League. He cannot afford to spend a season on the bench. At his age, if you do not progress, you regress. His goal is to join the France team at Euro 2016. Staying at PSG seems very difficult.”
What was startling in Madame Rabiot’s comments was her blind faith in her son’s ability, and place within the PSG midfield hierarchy. Before that summer, Rabiot had impressed during a loan spell at Toulouse. Using his long-frame, vision and passing ability to give PSG fans a glimpse of his talent, but he was far from the finished article.
Twelve starts from 25 appearances for PSG came the following season. Rabiot scored twice, but failed to provide any assists. At that time Marco Verratti, Blaise Matuidi and Thiago Motta were combining to give the Parisians one of the strongest midfield trios in Europe. Rabiot was merely the young pretender.
Going through the contract dispute in 2014 harmed Rabiot’s image in the eyes of the fans. As the stand-off continued, the midfielder was kept out of the team at the start of the season. It wasn’t until November 21 that he finally made his first appearance of the season, already 14 games in. There was no sulking from Blanc, though, who used the teenager in 21 of the remaining 25 games that campaign.
With four goals and one assist, Rabiot showed his quality – gliding around the pitch, with his mop of long hair. He tries to keep things simple – breaking up play, starting attacks and spraying the ball around the pitch with his eye-catching languid style.
Not quite a box-to-box midfielder, he also isn’t a straight defensive-minded player. Rabiot is combative, but with style and panache. He’ll win the ball, turn and look to counter. He doesn’t try to do too much, understanding that the ball will always move faster than he will.
Undoubtedly he is talented, that comes across instantly, but the nagging question remains, something that PSG fans had hoped the new contract would answer: Is he worth all the trouble?
Handed a start in the very first game of the current season away at Lille, a petulant Rabiot was sent off after just 27 minutes, leaving his team-mates with an uphill battle. They would win the game 1-0, but no thanks to the youngster. Punished for his mistake, he wouldn’t start again until week 10. Then Rabiot got his break.
Marco Verratti had to come off as PSG took on Real Madrid at the Bernabeu and Rabiot made his entrance. Something seemed to click. It was a coming of age, a snake shedding its old skin – a performance that gave the impression that rather than just being the young pretender, Rabiot was an equal in this midfield.
Without doubt, once he returned from injury, Verratti was expected to walk back into the tram, but Rabiot had enjoyed his best spell as a PSG player and things were looking up. It wouldn’t last long.
One month after the success in Madrid, and having started eight games out of 11, Rabiot spoke to magazine show Telefoot at the start of December, declaring that if his minutes dropped again, PSG should give him a Christmas present by allowing him to leave on loan in January. Talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Days later, PSG took on Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League. The home fans let the youngster know that they were far from pleased with his comments. Playing from the start, his early touches were met with a chorus of boos – there was a real sense of ungratefulness regarding his actions.
Former Chelsea and France centre-back Frank Leboeuf, speaking on French radio station RMC, had some sound advice to the young midfielder.
“He has a huge amount of talent but he also has flaws and he’ll have to learn to keep himself quiet,” Leboeuf said. “He doesn’t have the right to talk right now. He signed a five-year contract and like Laurent Blanc said, ‘you were happy when you signed, you’re earning a good living – learn and be quiet.'”
At just 20 years old, Rabiot has started 10 of his 14 appearances this season. He has shown all the exciting aspects of his game and glimpses of genius, but in equal measure, his attitude, or guidance from his entourage has tarnished his great work.
There will be a point when Blanc and PSG no longer feel Rabiot is worth the hassle. At his age, Rabiot should be concentrating on just playing football. Life will not be easier in the Premier League, especially as he would have to adjust and adapt to the more frantic nature of English football.
PSG is the ideal place for Rabiot to grow. He has not been cast aside, he is not rotting on the bench – the grass isn’t always greener on the other side.
