In today’s game, the phrase ‘jack of all trades’ is usually meant more as an insult than a compliment.
But while Adrien Rabiot is no midfield specialist a la N’Golo Kante or Kevin de Bruyne, the France international can do almost everything on a football pitch and to a pretty high standard.
Snapping into tackles and leading the press? No problem. Carrying the ball from one box to the other in the blink of an eye? Easy. Produce match-winning contributions in big-game encounters? A man who set up Kante’s winner in France’s Nations League decider against Portugal recently can do that too.
Rabiot’s ability has never been in question but, while a lamentable attitude and a rather outspoken mother have often held him back, ensuring his trophy-laden spell at PSG ended in a public slanging match between player and club, the 25-year-old appears to be finally letting his football do the talking.
France captain Hugo Lloris hailed the new-found maturity of a man who, after an unseemly fall-out with coach Didier Deschamps, has forced his way back into Les Bleus’ plans (Maxifoot).
With Rabiot now one of the first names on the team-sheet at Juventus, establishing himself as a key cog in the Andrea Pirlo machine after struggling under Maurizio Sarri, speculation linking the one-time Manchester City trainee with a return to England now feels like a thing of the past.
Calciomercato reported in October that Everton were planning a January bid for a man handed his debut by none other than Carlo Ancelotti at PSG eight years ago.
Arsenal, meanwhile, held talks with Rabiot during the summer transfer window (Le10 Sport), when all the signs suggested that Juventus were ready to cash in on their controversy-courting £25 million midfielder.
Pirlo, however, has big plans for a man who, in his own words, is growing by the week.
“He is a complete player, I have rarely seen someone so strong both physically and technically,” Pirlo said after another fine Rabiot performance in Juve’s 2-0 triumph over Cagliari on Saturday.
“He doesn’t even know the potential for improvement he can have, and we work on the mental side of things to make him understand that he is a champion. He is improving game after game.”
With Blaise Matuidi, Gonzalo Higuain and Miralem Pjanic gone, Rabiot is suddenly one of the senior figures in a fresh-faced Juventus dressing room.
A year ago, you would have been forgiven for scoffing at the idea of the often-infantile Rabiot becoming a leader, on and off the pitch, at one of Europe’s bona fide super-clubs.
But this ‘jack of all trades’ has added another string to his bow with an attitude to rival his ability.
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