The Adrien Rabiot to Spurs story is everywhere but raking through French media there is a little more flesh for the bone to be found.
A deal appears to have been on the cards for some months, but then in the last week of January, France Football believed that the player had changed his mind. And wanted to stay.
The 19 year old right footer is a PSG II player, and an injury prone one at that. But he is also one that the French boss wants to keep a hold of. He told France Football:
I’m not ready to let him go. I have always said that it was a boy I wanted to keep, explained the Parisian coach, this press conference Sunday. My position is clear: it represents the future of PSG. It is well after a first part of season complicated personal level. I repeat myself, I would keep [him], play [him] and progress [him].”
The most recent mention is in Le Parisien, they say that our new man Paul Mitchell has been in France this month to broker a loan deal, thought to be initially for 6 months. The paper also suggests that he is to specifically supplement any rests/rotation required by either Nabil Bentaleb and/or Ryan Mason.
This is precisely the sort of young player that will fit the intensity of play that Pochettino wants. It also flies in the face of the “quick, let’s spend £25M on him!” routine that left the squad unbalanced and dysfunctional.
The fact that he’s only a loan isn’t perfect, but it demonstrates what I’d call a degree of intelligent caution. Yes, if he turns out to be mustard, then we will be sad to see him go if we can’t keep him. But if he flatlines, we’re not stuck with a yet another player clinging onto a contract that isn’t worth picking.
It also demonstrates some wit in our buying that suggests to me, he’s the type we’d like to promote from the development lads, but as we don’t have such a player there, we’ve gone looking for one in the same mould.
There’s an excitement about the promotion of youth in the Lilywhite. With courage and balance, it should advance us.