Tottenham fear major summer target will agree Liverpool transfer

Jurgen Klopp; Mauricio Pochettino TEAMtalk

Tottenham are becoming increasingly anxious that Liverpool are poised to beat them to the free transfer signing of Adrien Rabiot this summer, a report has claimed.

The 23-year-old has been heavily linked with Tottenham and a report in the Sunday Mirror claims he was poised to move to the North London club in a £20million deal last month before the death of his father put transfer talk on the backburner.

Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea have also been strongly linked to Rabiot, while Barcelona admitted in December that they had been in contact over a potential move.

However, news that Rabiot will now leave PSG as a free agent has alerted Liverpool and the Mirror claims Jurgen Klopp’s side are giving serious thought to an approach for the France midfielder.

Reports on Sunday have again linked James Milner with a return to Leeds and Rabiot could be the man to fill the veteran star’s boots at Anfield.

And the Mirror claims the chance to work under Klopp would sway Rabiot to ditch a planned move to Tottenham in favour of Liverpool.

PSG are now said to be furious at seeing their hopes of claiming a fee for Rabiot in January dashed and his exclusion from their first-team squad is likely to continue for the Champions League trip to face Manchester United.

Adrien Rabiot TEAMtalk

PSG sporting director Antero Henrique said of the situation in December: ‘The player informed me that he would not sign a contract and that he wanted to leave the club by being free at the end of the season, at the end of his contract.

“For the player, this will have a very clear consequence – he will remain on the bench for an indefinite period.

“It seems that the player and his representative have misled us for several months. I must add that this situation is disrespectful for both the club and the fans.”

Tottenham had been banking on Rabiot ending what will be an 18-month transfer wait by the time the summer rolls around, but they could now be set for more frustration if Liverpool nip in.

 

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