With their midfield in need of a sizeable overhaul, Liverpool may need to be creative in the next two transfer windows. Kopites will differ on exactly how many players the Reds need for the centre of the team, but ‘several’ is certainly a reasonable shout at this point.
Acquiring the players required will not be cheap, and there does not look likely to be a sale in the Philippe Coutinho financial bracket to help either. As such, no deal should be immediately ruled out.
Calciomercato have claimed Liverpool might offer Kostas Tsimikas to Juventus in exchange for French midfielder Adrien Rabiot, who is out of contract at the end of this season. The Reds’ Greek left-back has proven himself to be a worthy understudy to Andy Robertson, but he is not so important as to make an exit unthinkable.
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But is he worth moving on to acquire Rabiot? The 27-year-old is certainly in a rich vein of form at present. He scored one and set up another in France’s 4-1 victory over Australia on Tuesday, giving him a total of four goals and three assists in his last eight appearances for club and country. As he has averaged around five goal contributions a season across his career, this recent run is certainly a spike in his output.
One of the golden rules of transfer business is not to rush out and buy a player who does well in an international tournament, and Liverpool are too smart to read too much into Rabiot’s current hot streak. His part in France’s second goal was certainly eye-catching, though.
Pressing a defender into losing possession, the French number 14 collected a pass, dribbled into the box and squared for Olivier Giroud to score. After day three at the World Cup, Rabiot was one of six players who had completed a ball carry leading to an assist ( per The Analyst ).
His problem is that he does not display this kind of attacking verve frequently enough. Granted, he’s a more defensively minded midfielder by trade but his forward passing stats are uninspiring for a French international who has spent his career with Paris Saint-Germain and Juventus.
For instance, Rabiot is in the bottom 16 per cent of midfielders in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain over the last year for long passes attempted ( per FBRef ). There’s nothing wrong with playing it safe if that is what the manager asks of you, of course, and his completion rate for long balls is actually one of his stronger metrics.
But the Frenchman is also in the bottom 31 per cent of his positional peers in the big leagues for passes into the final third and progressive passing distance. Rabiot does not particularly help Juventus advance the ball up field from a position where he undoubtedly could.
There are certainly positives within his data. He’s strong in the air (an important attribute in the Premier League) and has several tackle metrics within his better numbers. To be part of a side that records plenty of high turnovers – ball recoveries in the final 40 metres of the pitch – and a player whose fourth best stat is tackles in the attacking third hints at someone who could suit Liverpool. A lack of athleticism has often been cited as an issue, though, and that’s already a problem for the Reds’ midfield.
And while it would be wrong to pay too much attention to everything you read in gossip pages, Rabiot’s mother, who is also his agent, has a controversial reputation. The player’s international team-mate Ibrahima Konate may be able to provide a first-hand opinion, but team spirit is paramount for Jurgen Klopp and putting that at risk would not be an option. While Rabiot could potentially solve a problem or two for Liverpool, swapping Tsimikas to secure him might simply open more elsewhere.
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