Thomas Tuchel has been warned against Chelsea signing Adrien Rabiot as Declan Rice alternative

Thomas Tuchel has already been told about the inconsistencies that exist in Adrien Rabiot’s game as Chelsea reportedly signal their interest to Juventus in their midfielder, who could be signed by the Blues as a Declan Rice alternative this summer.

The Blues have numerous issues to sort out this summer including in defence, midfield and attack. It is already known that the former of the positions is to be given special treatment immediately, whilst the other two depend on outgoings. It is understood that if any Chelsea midfielders were to depart this summer, it would be Jorginho who is angling for a move back to Serie A and interested club Juventus will need to remove one of their own players to compensate for the arrival of the former Napoli man.

Therefore, it’s no surprise to see Les Bleus international Rabiot be included on a Juve selling transfer list with a potential swap deal potentially on the cards later into the summer, once other priorities are attended to by Todd Boehly. Nonetheless, Chelsea, who have suffered multiple set-backs in their attempts to sign long-term target Declan Rice over the last few transfer windows, will continue to consider their midfield options, especially now that Aurelien Tchouameni is off the table having already moved to Real Madrid.

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That’s where the 27-year-old comes into the picture and a colleague of Gianluca Di Marzio has provided the latest on Chelsea’s interest regarding the Les Bleus international. Nathan Gissing’s tweet reads: “It is true Thomas Tuchel is a fan of Juventus midfielder Adrien Rabiot and liked him when at PSG, but there is nothing advanced as of now. Chelsea’s focus is strengthening the attack and defence.”

Once the £200m transfer budget is spent on different attacking and defensive targets, possibly including the likes of Jules Kounde and Raheem Sterling, all attention will switch to the middle of the park and with a move for West Ham’s Rice looking increasingly unlikely to come to fruition this summer, other options may have to be considered.

Tuchel must decide whether to promote the likes of Billy Gilmour and Conor Gallagher or try and sign an experienced player from outside the club. It is understood that Rabiot himself, a player who racked up a total of 2,821 minutes last season for The Old Lady in all competitions, is keen on a Premier League switch, with both Chelsea and Manchester United the frontrunners from England.

Tuchel’s relationship and knowledge of the player could be the key in this deal and despite the love-hate relationship between the pair that had formed from their time together at Paris Saint-Germain, it seems as though the German wants to reunite with a player he knows well, just like he does with Barca winger Ousmane Dembele this summer. However, Juve manager Max Allegri on numerous occasions across Rabiot’s three year stay in Italy has stated the inconsistencies that Juventus’ No. 25 has shown in midfield- especially to do with his lack of goal contributions.

“If I was Rabiot I’d be very angry with myself, how many goals has he scored in two years here? Ten? It’s not acceptable, if I were him, I’d be very upset,” Allegri was quoted saying back in September 2021. “He needs to improve all these things to get really better and I am sure he’ll be able to do it this year.”

It seems as though he hasn’t done this due to the fact that out of his 39 appearances in all competitions for the Turin based club during 2021/22, he registered only two goal involvements, which were both assists. “I think Adrien can really do damage with his shot from distance, but perhaps it’s because he plays internationally for France in a two-man midfield, he just doesn’t make the right movements or has the right timing to get the shot away,” Allegri analysed via Football Italia after a win over Cagliari. “He didn’t read the game well at all today and we have to do a great deal of work with him.”

Chelsea fans- Would it be worth it to take a risk on Adrien Rabiot for one year like th Saul Niguez situation then maybe spend loads of money next summer on Declan Rice? Leave your thoughts down below in the comments section!

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