Didier Deschamps has branded Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot as “intelligent” and “very important” to his France side after a wonderful performance in Qatar on Tuesday night – amid reports Liverpool are planning a swap bid.
Rabiot, 27, has been in superb form this season. While Juventus made a woeful start to the campaign, they have begun to show improvement under Max Allegri – winning six Serie A games in a row without conceding a single goal.
The France international has been central to that, having a hand in five goals from midfield. Indeed, he has netted three goals and laid on two assists. That is, despite Rabiot not being previously known for scoring goals regularly.
On Tuesday night, France came from behind to beat Australia 4-1. Rabiot equalised for his country, before laying on an assist for Oliver Giroud’s first goal. A wonderful display from the ex-PSG midfielder. But he is out of contract in June.
A report from Italian site CMW claims that Liverpool want to sign Rabiot. They are willing to offer Juventus a straight-swap deal to land Rabiot, for Konstantinos Tsimikas. Juve want a left-back. Deschamps was full of praise for Rabiot.
“He is playing at a high standard. I never had doubts about his skill or ability,” Deschamps said about Rabiot, as per English.News. “Good for balance, intelligent, wins the ball, headers and scores goals; he’s a very important player.”
France boss Deschamps: Rabiot very important amid Liverpool reports
At the start of the season, if Liverpool had signed Rabiot, fans would have been uninterested. But the midfielder has taken his game to a whole new level – showing he is more than just a holding midfielder. A bit like Granit Xhaka.
The Swiss star has gone from a holding midfielder with a somewhat-perceived attitude issue, to a goalscoring star. Liverpool need midfield additions in January and Rabiot might be ideal, given he is out of contract at the end of 22-23.
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