Adrien Rabiot will appear on the match sheet for a match disputed in France for the first since December 5, 2018, this Wednesday evening for the knockout stages of the Champions League against Lyon. Data that recalls the very eventful end of his six years in Paris, when he was sidelined after refusing to extend his contract. Free, a qualification that sticks to his skin, he signed at Juventus Turin at the end of the season, for a salary estimated at 7 million euros gross per year.
The 24-year-old torchbearer has 23 appearances, including 15 tenures, but his status has changed considerably. Two statements a few months apart from Maurizio Sarri, the earthy trainer of the Old Lady, illustrate this. "He must think that Matuidi is strong! Said the Italian in September. In January, change of tone: “He improves and lives very well with the group. Matuidi is always useful in the long term. But right now, I have to be consistent and give Rabiot playing time. "
Matuidi therefore remains Rabiot's lifelong competitor. The one he had pushed to leave PSG to take his place as a torchbearer before joining him in Turin. The elder, 32, could start the match against OL. "It was difficult when he arrived at the physical level because he remained over six months without playing and it is not easy to integrate into a club which has just won eight championships, recalls Oscar Damiani, former player of Juventus Turin became an agent. He has improved physically and Juve believes in him. The club also refused all requests for the winter transfer window. From the start, he had been registered in the Champions League, unlike Emre Can, who has since left for Dortmund.
In Turin, he regained calm and anonymity
It remains to cross the last steps towards a place of key player. “With Matuidi, it's 50/50,” continues Damiani. They share the playing time according to the opponents, the competitions, and their physical form. Rabiot still has room. I do not yet find it at the level it had before being excluded from the PSG project. When he is 100% physically and fully adapted, he will be able to bring even more, especially on the offensive level. "
PODCAST. Rabiot, the mess at 50 million euros
Adrien Rabiot takes advantage of his exile in Italy to find calm and anonymity, even if he regularly returns to Paris, where he sometimes goes out. He rarely speaks publicly and the Italian public is not interested in his past conflicts with PSG or with the Blues. “Today, my performances are positive, he retained last week at the microphone of RMC Sport. It is a choice of the coach. It is not the fact of being a Juve player or not that makes me go to the France team, it is above all my performances. "
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A way to normalize a situation that is still not in the eyes of the coach. After his refusal to join the list of substitutes for the last World Cup, the left-hander will have to burst the screen to hope to change the situation. The blow of mouth of his mother and agent, Véronique Rabiot in January, which qualified the president of the FFF Noël Le Graët of "liar", should not help a rewarming. For now, the main thing is elsewhere for Adrien Rabiot, who has become a normal footballer again. Everything he asked for a year ago.
