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"(The decision to leave) is final because the current situation, as everyone can see, has deteriorated completely," said Veronique Rabiot told RTL, who along with being Adrien Rabiot’s mum, is also the youngster’s agent as well. Adrien Rabiot had decided to leave Paris Saint Germain at the start of this season itself, and ever since that decision was heard across Europe, all top clubs, including the likes of Barcelona, Tottenham, Chelsea, Bayern Munich, and Manchester City are trying to acquire the 23-year-old from the capital of France.
With that being said, I personally feel that the 23-year-old is an ideal fit for Pep Guardiola and Manchester City. Ever since their triumphant Premier League title win last season, many people have observed that though City has players who are capable of producing art, the team is also short of players who are willing to do the dirty work at the back.
Manchester City
Manchester City’s dip in form around Christmas was mostly down to one thing: the absence of Fernandinho due to an injury. The Brazilian’s absence in mid-field during the time cost City two back to back losses in December, and Pep Guardiola has openly stated his desire in finding a suitable replacement for Fernandinho in the middle. Manchester City usually starts a game with their standard 4-3-3 formation, where Fernandinho acts as a defensive midfielder, allowing the mid-field two of David Silva and De Bruyne (on most occasions) to flourish further up the pitch.
Rabiot, on the other hand, prefers to be the man in the middle of the pitch, dictating play or destabilizing a counterattack by the opposition. By the look of things, Fernandinho and Rabiot’s traits as footballers go hand in hand. Fernandinho plays the role of a ball distributor and a ball retaining mid-fielder, and Rabiot’s similar skill set will hugely benefit Pep Guardiola in terms of Rabiot’s adaptation to the game, or to the formation as a whole. His reputation as a "pass master" is already well known around France, and the other thing which City would be gaining in terms of buying Rabiot would be his versatility in playing in various positions on the pitch..
Manchester City has deployed a formation with only one holding mid-fielder on two occasions this season, where Fernandinho started both the games with that role. It is evident that Guardiola doesn’t have a player of Fernandinho’s nature this season, and Rabiot might be the ideal player for the manager’s dilemma in finding a worthy replacement for the Brazilian. Though he doesn't really make great strides in an attack, you can almost guarantee that when the 23-year-old has the ball, the possession of the ball will remain with the side he is playing for.
As the picture suggests, it is clear that all meaningful action for the current Premier League champions takes place through the middle, where Fernandinho ideally does all the defensive contributions in terms of interceptions, blocks, and aerial duel wins.
If you compare Rabiot’s stats with Fernandinho’s from last season, this is what you would see,
Rabiot has a better pass success rate (92% when compared to Fernandinho’s 90%)
Rabiot has a better key pass rate (0.8 key passes when compared to Fernandinho's 0.6 per 90)
Rabiot has provided more assists (5 assists to Fernandinho's 3)
Fernandinho makes more passes per game (88 when compared to Rabiot's 67)
Fernandinho has a better interception rate per game (1.4 interceptions per 90 when compared to Rabiot’s 1 per 90)
As we can see, Adrien Rabiot almost ticks all boxes when he is compared with Fernandinho’s statistics, and though it is reasonable to state that Fernandinho plays in a “tougher” league when compared to Ligue 1, Adrien Rabiot’s contributions with PSG are not to be underestimated yet.
Still, at a young age of 23, Adrien Rabiot has already played a massive total of 227 games with PSG so far, and his development as a player looks to be getting better season after season.
To Conclude,
If Manchester City is looking out for a player who isn’t expected to impact that much in attack but is expected to be impactful at the back, then Adrien Rabiot might be the best option for Pep Guardiola. Barcelona has finally agreed on a deal with Frankie De Jong in the summer, and with only a handful of young mid-fielders to choose from, Rabiot seems like the best bet among the names of potential replacements for the ageing Fernandinho.
Adrien Rabiot is a "safe mid-fielder", where his calmness on the ball and his ability to cover up spaces which could be exploited by the opposition makes him a very intelligent midfielder. As I mentioned earlier, the 23-year-old is very versatile in the middle and has the ability to either play as a holding midfielder in a 4-3-3 or as a double pivot in a 2 man midfield as well. With all that being said, it will ultimately be City's decision in buying the midfielder, and if the club acts quick enough, the reigning Premier League champions surely won't regret the decision in replacing Fernandinho with Adrien Rabiot.
