Rabiot would be a great signing for Barcelona – Xavi

Adrien Rabiot would make a great addition to Barcelona’s midfield, according to club great Xavi.

It was reported in Spain this week that Barca officials had met with Paris Saint-Germain star Rabiot to agree personal terms ahead of a transfer.

PSG are said to be prepared to allow the midfielder to leave for a fee in the region of €40million.

Xavi thinks the France international would make a shrewd signing but is wary of talking up prospective deals, having seeing Antoine Griezmann decide to stay at Atletico Madrid despite being linked with a switch to Camp Nou.

“He’s a player of an excellent level technically,” Xavi told Mundo Deportivo when asked about Rabiot. 

“He could play perfectly as a central midfielder at Barca. He could contribute a lot, but that’s already entering the realms of speculation.

“I’ve been asked a lot about Griezmann this summer and, in the end, he stayed at Atletico. But if Rabiot comes, he’d be a great signing.”

 

Austriawith some young supporters 

A post shared by Adrien Rabiot (@adrienrabiot_25) on Jul 20, 2018 at 12:45pm PDT

Barca have already strengthened their midfield in the transfer window by bringing forward the arrival of Arthur from Gremio in a €39m deal.

Xavi thinks the Brazilian has the right “DNA” for the Catalans but thinks it would put too much pressure on the 21-year-old to compare him with himself or former captain Andres Iniesta.

“I’ve seen a few videos of him. There are a lot of Brazilians here at the Aspire academy who have spoken very well of him,” said the Al Sadd midfielder.

“I think he’s a player who is perfectly adaptable to Barca. He has what we call the Barca DNA, that technical quality, that talent you need. After that, it depends on him, his mentality and whether he is ready to play for a good team.”

Asked about the comparisons between himself and Arthur, he added: “I don’t like it. I didn’t like being compared with [Pep] Guardiola or anyone, it’s not easy to digest, it’s a weight on top of you and that’s not good. 

“He has to make his own career, show his own personality. If we leave him in peace, he’ll succeed, but it’s very difficult at Barca, very difficult.”