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Barcelona: Adrien Rabiot’s ego needs to be micromanaged by Ernesto Valverde

By Chiranjib Ghosh

PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 25: Adrien Rabiot of Paris Saint Germain during the French League 1 match between Paris Saint Germain v Angers at the Parc des Princes on August 25, 2018 in Paris France (Photo by Jeroen Meuwsen/Soccrates/Getty Images)
PARIS, FRANCE - AUGUST 25: Adrien Rabiot of Paris Saint Germain during the French League 1 match between Paris Saint Germain v Angers at the Parc des Princes on August 25, 2018 in Paris France (Photo by Jeroen Meuwsen/Soccrates/Getty Images) /
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Adrien Rabiot‘s summer move to Barcelona is still a possibility

With Barcelona ready to finalise the free transfer bringing 23-year old French defensive midfielder Adrien Rabiot to the Camp Nou, the move will not be without its fair share of troubles. In fact, the only good things about the transfer would be the non-existent fee and Rabiot’s huge potential.

Firstly, Adrien Rabiot’s signing would potentially overpopulate the midfield. There would be cutthroat competition for minutes, especially with the €75 million signing of Frenkie de Jong. But there is an even bigger problem that has haunted Rabiot’s current club, Paris Saint-Germain.

Rabiot’s ego and his attitude has been an issue throughout his career. His mother and agent, Veronique Rabiot is very headstrong when it comes to dealing with authority. Her inflexible nature is born out of looking out for her son’s best interests, but it often creates problems.

In fact, Rabiot’s refusal to renew his contract at PSG was because of his mother. When Thomas Tuchel was forced to demote the youngster to the reserve for this reason, Rabiot even threatened to take PSG to court after he refused to accompany the squad to a training camp in Doha.

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Veronique Rabiot also infamously confronted former PSG manager Laurent Blanc to demand playing time for her son. This kind of confrontational behaviour has boosted Adrien Rabiot’s ego to a point where he can be a threat to the harmony of any dressing room.

France head coach Didier Deschamps chose Steven N’Zonzi over Rabiot for the World Cup squad for the same reason. At Barça, the harmony in the dressing room and the interpersonal relationships between the players often determine the results.

There have been no ego clashes in the dressing room ever since Zlatan Ibrahimović left the club after having a series of disagreements with Pep Guardiola. After the appointment of Ernesto Valverde, the squad has gelled very well, especially some of the stars.

Adrien Rabiot has the potential to destroy that. So, Valverde will need to use micromanagement to deal with the issue of Rabiot’s ego. It needs to be contained, especially at a club where the team spirit is supreme and most of the goals are due to teamwork.

Valverde's extension is poorly timed. dark. Next

Barça is really a club where the whole is greater the sum of its parts. If Rabiot undermines that, he is not really a Culé and he doesn’t belong at the Camp Nou. If the club is actually going for the Frenchman, Valverde has a very important and difficult task at his hands.