Adrien Rabiot, who once brutally turned down a move to Tottenham, has now issued a come-and-get-me plea to the club. The Frenchman, 29, is currently a free agent after leaving Juventus in July, so is eligible for an immediate transfer despite the fact the window is closed.
According to TBR Football, Rabiot has offered his services to both Tottenham and Arsenal in an attempt to get himself out of limbo - having failed to secure a contract with a new club over the summer. He has received offers from teams in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, but it's believed he'd rather to sign for a club in one of Europe's top leagues.
However, the midfielder's wage demands could stand in the way of such a move. It's understood he's asking for around £220,000-a-week - £30k more per week than what Tottenham's highest earner, Son Heung-min, is making.
Ange Postecoglou's side had a busy summer. They not only shattered their transfer record by signing Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke for £65million, but they also spent an additional £71m on four highly promising youngsters. Annoyingly for Rabiot, two of those youngsters, Archie Gray and Lucas Bergvall, are central midfielders, which likely means Spurs won't be too eager to sign another one, especially with Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Matar Sarr and Yves Bissouma also in the squad.
Rabiot's eagerness to play for Spurs represents quite a turnaround after he deemed the club "below" his level when they tried to sign him in 2018. At the time, Rabiot was keen to leave Paris Saint Germain amidst issues with then-coach Thomas Tuchel, who would later take the reins at Chelsea.
The fact that elite European clubs like Barcelona and Juventus were vying for his services makes his nonchalance towards Spurs somewhat understandable. However, Spurs were on an upward trajectory back then, with Mauricio Pochettino establishing them as Premier League contenders and Champions League regulars.
A few months later they reached the Champions League final for the very first time, but it wasn't enough to lure Rabiot to north London. The France international ended up joined Juventus on a free transfer in the summer of 2019, with Tottenham landing Tanguy Ndombele instead.
In Italy, Rabiot swiftly became indispensable for Juventus, and soon after secured a regular spot in France manager Didier Deschamps' starting XI. He ended up playing 212 games for the Old Lady, scoring 22 goals.