The announcement has been setting Marseille ablaze since Sunday evening. On Sunday evening, OM announced that they had reached an agreement with Adrien Rabiot (29 years old), who has been free since leaving Juventus, and who will sign for two years after passing his medical. In After Foot, Daniel Riolo praises this new great move by Medhi Benatia, OM’s sports advisor, while showing major reservations about the sporting contribution of the French international (48 caps, 4 goals).
His past at PSG? “People don’t give a damn about these things anymore”
“It’s pretty incredible what’s happening in Marseille,” he admits. “Convincing Rabiot to drop his salary by almost half to come and play in Marseille is incredible. What Benatia has done since his arrival is pretty incredible in terms of networks. When you try to understand what networks are for, a guy who played for Juve and Bayern knows a lot of people and can be convincing on the phone, that’s very good. I wonder if the best recruit isn’t Benatia more than some players. The momentum in Marseille is extremely positive. I’m not going to roll around on the floor because they’re taking Rabiot. He’s coming mainly because no one wants him. If people go into ecstasy because Rabiot is coming to OM, watch out!”
The RMC Sport journalist prefers to wait before getting carried away by the promises raised by this very tempting transfer window (Greenwood, Hojbjerg, Koné, Brassier, Carboni, Wahi, Maupay…). “You sell promises that I buy,” he explains. “I want them to play for the title, I want it to be a fight. I want to believe in it but we’ll see at the end. With Saturday’s match (victory against Nice, 2-0), everything is in place for it to be great. What’s great is the team’s dynamic and state of mind but in terms of play, there is, for the moment, nothing at all. That’s clear and simple. The names, that’s the stuff of dreams. The coach will be there to manage. Two days ago, he said that Kondogbia was great, that he was a revelation because he didn’t want him anymore but they won’t be able to play with ten in the middle, he will make his choices. I congratulate Benatia on his work, the way he talks to the guys, he talks to the players a lot, but for the moment, I say ‘we’ll see’.”
“He flourished in an ultra defensive style, I’m waiting to see in the De Zerbi style”
He then moves on to Rabiot with great skepticism. “Nobody wanted him in Europe, he lowered half his salary,” he assures. “For me, when he joined Juventus after leaving PSG (in 2019), it corresponds to the worst years of this club. He is a midfielder who has very few qualities, apart from technical qualities. If he succeeds in Ligue 1, it is because Ligue 1 will perhaps suit him in terms of rhythm but he does not put any rhythm into his matches. Whether in the French team with the French team or at Juventus with Allegri in an ultra defensive style in which he was able to flourish, I am waiting to see in the De Zerbi style. He was able to prepare for it and perhaps his technique will perhaps be important for the preparation of the actions. For the rest… I have never been a fan of the player.”
“I stopped being a fan of him after PSG-Barça (4-0, 2017), the best match of his career.”
He finally concludes by brushing aside any possible objection from Marseille supporters about his past at PSG. “Times are changing enormously,” he notes. “For young people who watch football today, it’s no longer an issue, they don’t give a damn. Anti-Rabiot banners at the Parc des Princes? Yes, they’ll do it, but deep down, they don’t care. The people of Marseille will welcome him with open arms, football has changed. (…) We’ll bring out the sentence where he says he supported OM when he was a child. It’s like Elye Wahi who says: ‘I’ll never have my feet there’ and then he signs, he gives a talk, wrap it up, it’s done. People don’t give a damn about these things anymore. They swallow it all. You make a nice video, it’s over, these values no longer exist in football today. In any case, we are dominated by the footix.”
- RMC Sport
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