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What's the story?
Arsenal have had a relatively quiet transfer window so far, with their only purchases coming in the form of striker Alexandre Lacazette from Lyon and Sead Kolasinac on a free transfer from Schalke.
In the 2016-17 season, the Gunners endured one of their worst campaigns in recent times, finishing outside of the top 4 for the first time in almost two decades.
Arsene Wenger will hope his side can put last season aside and start afresh this season. The club's hierarchy will also be keen on adding more firepower to the squad before the season begins, and are reportedly considering PSG's central midfielder, Adrian Rabiot, who is expected to cost the Gunners around £20 million.
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Arsenal, as well as their North London rivals Tottenham Hotspur are allegedly monitoring the French midfielder, with reports claiming him to be an "item of interest". Italian giants Juventus are also supposedly pondering a move for the 22-year old.
Rabiot, who is under contract with PSG until 2019, was a part of Manchester City's youth set-up during his early days in the football world.
The heart of the matter
Arsenal are looking to plug the holes that sank their ship last season and Rabiot has been identified as someone capable of doing that. The Frenchman has been at PSG for the last six years, scoring 18 times from 158 appearances.
The 22-year-old has become a regular fixture in Unai Emery's 11, starting games consistently over the last couple of seasons.
Also read: 5 midfielders who can help Arsenal win the Premier League
The Gunners could see the departure of Chilean heartthrob, Alexis Sanchez, soon and are expected to set their sights on other big names, with Rabiot supposedly among the top candidates.
With Santi Cazorla ruled out for the next few months due to an ankle injury, Wenger will push to recruit another midfielder and Rabiot is seen as an ideal source of support for Granit Xhaka and Aaron Ramsey in the Arsenal midfield.
Having played in England before, the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder is understood to have retained fond memories of his time in England and has admitted that he'd like to move back one day.
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Author's take
Rabiot seems content in Paris at the moment and it will take a lot of convincing to get him to abandon PSG for Arsenal, with the latter unable to provide him with Champions League football.
Having successfully broken into the first team in Paris, it would be a step down for the Frenchman to move to Arsenal, where he might not play very consistently.
