Adrien Rabiot assures he is ‘ready’ to make up for lost time at Juventus, who are a ‘level up’ on Paris Saint-Germain.
Rabiot was dropped for the second half of last season due to a contractual dispute with PSG, but the midfielder believes the stand-off has worked in his favour.
“I have to say the last six months have been rather complicated. In a sporting sense these things can happen, so I was quite ready for them,” he continued at his Juve unveiling.
Adrien Rabiot assures he is ‘ready’ to make up for lost time at Juventus, who are a ‘level up’ on Paris Saint-Germain.
Rabiot was dropped for the second half of last season due to a contractual dispute with PSG, but the midfielder believes the stand-off has worked in his favour.
“I have to say the last six months have been rather complicated. In a sporting sense these things can happen, so I was quite ready for them,” he continued at his Juve unveiling.
“That chapter has closed, and this is a new and very nice adventure. I truly hope to do my best and I want to leave the past behind me.
“I would’ve preferred to close the previous phase in a better way, but it didn’t only depend on me and it went the way it did.
“Leonardo got in contact with my agent. He introduced himself and wanted to understand where things were, but I didn’t receive any offers.
“There was no attempt from PSG to retain me, and he realised [my time at PSG] was all over.
“I have to tell you that me coming here only became tangible recently. It went very quickly, I have to confess, because we reached an agreement in a short time. We didn’t have any problems at all.
“As for the great Frenchmen to have played here, this club have a great history so throughout it, great French players have played here. I hope to do my bit here too.
“Blaise played with me for several years so of course we get on very well. It’s true I’m a new player and there are other players who play in the same role.
“That’s something which usually happens, whether it is with Blaise or someone else. It doesn’t change our relationship or great friendship.
“Certainly, this a great and prestigious club. That means they have great international experience, even if the last few years they had some problems in the Champions League.
“Having said that they’ve always reached the latter stages. Therefore, in my opinion, they’re a level up on PSG and that’s why I made this decision.
“I worked a lot with PSG, and I have to say the Champions League isn’t something that comes over night. You need to accumulate a lot of experience season after season.
“As for Juve, I’m here and I want to do my best, to help the club reach their targets and the Champions League is one of the most important.
“We must be very focused but not only on that. We need to go through the season step by step. I’ve come here with the aim of doing my bit.”
The 24-year-old has not played for France since refusing a place on their standby list for the 2018 World Cup, while his agent-mother has been described by some as a corrosive influence…
“I’m still a French player and if my performances are good, I hope to be an option and I’d be glad to play for the national team.
“I have to say that in a sporting sense, she’s my agent so obviously she plays an important role, we work well together, and she helps me in the way agents normally help their players.
“As for the relationship between a mother and son, that’s something different. As for our relationship in football, she’s always close to me and we work together very well.”