Adrien Rabiot’s Redemption Tour Continues As France Beat Australia

Having watched him struggle for the better part of three years, it was really no surprise that Juventus tried to sell Adrien Rabiot this past summer. The midfielder had joined the club in July 2019, becoming one of the highest paid players in Serie A after his contract with PSG expired the previous month.

The Bianconeri won the league title in his debut campaign, but Rabiot was largely ineffective, notching one goal and one assist in 28 appearances as part of a midfield that never truly clicked.

Maurizio Sarri’s failure to forge a cohesive unit from Miralem Pjanić, Sami Khedira, Aaron Ramsey, Blaise Matuidi, Rodrigo Bentancur and Rabiot was hardly just the Coach’s fault, but it was a major reason why he was replaced after just one year at the helm.

Andrea Pirlo struggled too, leading to the return of Max Allegri, and as Juve searched for solutions in midfield, Rabiot is now the only member of that aforementioned group to remain at the club.

Weston McKennie arrived from German club Schalke for an initial loan fee of €4.5 million ($4.65 million) before another €18.5 million ($19.11 million) was handed over to make that move permanent.

Brazil international Arthur cost €72 million ($74.37 million) when he joined as part of the deal that took Pjanić to Barcelona, while a €25 million ($25.82 million) deal was struck with Sassuolo for Manuel Locatelli.

Then this past summer saw Paul Pogba return to Turin on a free transfer before PSG agreed to allow Leandro Paredes to move to Turin, initially on loan but with an agreement that could see him remain at a cost of €22.6 million ($23.34 million).

In addition to those transfer fees, this report from La Gazzetta dello Sport highlights the fact that Rabiot is the joint-second highest paid player at the club, earning €7 million ($7.24 million) after tax every year.

With Paredes reportedly paid the same amount and Pogba receiving €8 million ($8.27 million), plus the presence of Locatelli and McKennie, it was no surprise to see Rabiot strongly linked with a move away this past summer.

The Manchester Evening News believe a £15 million ($17.85 million) deal with Manchester United was agreed, but it was never completed and then a spate of injuries saw him become a regular member of the starting XI almost by default.

Yet in turn, Rabiot has repaid Allegri with the best spell of his entire tenure in Turin, weighing in with five goals and two assists in 16 starts across all competitions. The fact that he had only scored six times in his previous three seasons combined highlights just how much of a leap he has taken.

With statistics from WhoScored.com showing he is averaging 2 tackles, 1.2 interceptions and connecting with almost 90% of his pass attempts, there really is little doubt that Rabiot headed to Qatar in arguably the best form of his career.

Then came Tuesday and France’s first game of the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Going into the tournament as the current holders did not bode well for Les Bleus the last time around, losing their opening game of the 2002 edition 0-1 to Senegal before finishing bottom of Group A.

Yet just as Papa Bouba Diop had done two decades earlier, Craig Goodwin found the back of the France net, Australia needing just five minutes to put their star-studded opponents on the back foot.

Shortly after that, Bayern Munich defender Lucas Hernández was forced off the field with a serious injury, and it would have been so easy for Didier Deschamps’ men to surrender to defeat.

But instead they rallied, Rabiot leading the way with a well-taken header just before the half hour mark. Five minutes later and the 27-year-old turned provider, rolling the ball across the box for Milan striker Olivier Giroud to tap home and make sure France went into the interval leading the way.

After the break they would score twice more, wrapping up a comprehensive victory thanks to a goal from Kylian Mbappé and another from Giroud, the latter joining Thierry Henry as his nation’s all-time leading goal scorer.

But given that Rabiot refused to be on the stand-by list four years ago, the match should undoubtedly be viewed as yet another step in the redemption story that is his 2022/23 campaign.

Juventus have already benefited, and now France are too.