Tottenham are said to be leading the race to sign France World Cup star Adrien Rabiot, four years after he snubbed them.
Juventus midfielder Rabiot impressed for Les Bleus at the World Cup, featuring in every game apart from the semi-final win over Morocco due to illness, before Didier Deschamps side eventually fell at the final hurdle against Argentina.
The 27-year-old’s Juventus contract is due to expire next summer and, with it looking unlikely that he will extend his stay in Turin, a January move could be in the pipeline.
According to Corriere dello Sport, Tottenham are leading the way to land the Frenchman, with Premier League rivals Liverpool and Chelsea also said to be interested.
Juventus are reportedly holding out for a fee of around just £10milion to land the star who will leave for free at the end of the season.
Should Tottenham convince Rabiot to move to north London, it would represent a bit of a U-turn after spurning their advances in January 2019.
Rabiot’s contract at Paris Saint-Germain had six months remaining when Spurs showed their initial interest.
But the midfielder quickly made his intentions clear, indicating that he had no intentions of moving to the club and insisting they were ‘below’ his level.
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He went on to say that he was setting his sights higher than Tottenham and eventually secured a free transfer to Juve.
It appears Spurs are not willing to hold any grudges and will try to tempt the World Cup star to the club again.
Juventus coach Max Allegri does not want to lose Rabiot but the addition of Paul Pogba last summer appears to be a factor his impending exit.
The former Manchester United midfielder has been on the sidelines following a knee injury that resulted in him missing the World Cup.
But Allegri knows keeping hold of Rabiot at least until the end of the season is key to Juve’s hopes of making the top four in Serie A with question marks over Pogba’s ongoing fitness.
Antonio Conte and France team mate Hugo Lloris could play a big role in luring Rabiot to Tottenham, who arguably represent a better chance of delivering Champions League football next season than Juventus.
The Italian giants failed to make it out of their group in Europe’s elite competition earlier this season, finishing third behind Benfica and Paris Saint-Germain.
They have now dropped into the Europa League, but will have to beat French side Nantes across two legs in a play-off game to reach the last-16.
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