Barcelona reportedly have an agreement in place to wrap up the summer signing of Adrien Rabiot, who is being tipped to replace Ivan Rakitic.
Speculation has been rife over the 23-year-old’s future as his current contract with Paris Saint-Germain is set to expire at the end of the season.
With that in mind and with no sign of a renewal, the Frenchman has been frozen out by Thomas Tuchel in recent months ahead of an expected exit in the summer.
According to Mundo Deportivo, via Le Parisien, it’s claimed that Barcelona have an agreement in place with Rabiot on his salary, signing bonus and his role in the team, but ultimately a signature is still missing to make it official.
Further, it’s added that Rabiot could act as a replacement for Rakitic, with the stalwart linked with an exit due to contract issues of his own with the Catalan giants.
That would be a blow though if he were to leave, as the 30-year-old has made over 50 appearances in each campaign he’s been with Barca since his arrival from Sevilla in 2014.
It remains to be seen if this transfer saga now comes to an end as rumours have undoubtedly been ongoing for months now both in the Spanish and French media.
What is certain is that given Rabiot’s technical quality and classy ability on the ball, he would be a great fit for Barcelona to bolster their midfield options in the long term.
However, until pen is put to paper to make the deal official, time will tell whether or not a rival offer is made as ultimately signing a player of his quality on a free will surely appeal to several top clubs around Europe.
