Every club wants to have a solid spine that they can build a team around, so that usually involves a solid centre back pairing and two midfielders that will provide a base for the midfield.
It can be hard to know who will fit and how a potential pairing will work, so it does make sense to get players from the same country as it makes a basic understanding more likely.
According to a report from Le10Sport, that’s the plan for Arsenal next season, as they look to challenge Everton for the signing of Adrien Rabiot.
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Rabiot was outstanding for PSG and looked set to shine in Italy, but the Juve midfield is stacked with talent and he’s not managed to establish himself.
Rabiot did work with Carlo Ancelotti at Everton so that might be enticing, while the report suggests that Arsenal hope the prospect of pairing him with Matteo Guendouzi might tempt him to The Emirates.
The Arsenal midfield has always had a fatal flaw in the past – either with technical players who hide when the going gets tough, or temperamental figures who just cannot be trusted to maintain their discipline.
Rabiot would provide an experienced head who knows how to use the ball well, while Guendouzi has the athletic ability to get around the pitch and provide a box to box presence, so it could be effective.
It’s still not clear what will happen to the Juve man this summer, but Arsenal could do much worse than signing him.