Arsenal: Adrien Rabiot more exciting than ever before

Arsenal are well on their way towards building a team that Unai Emery can work with, and the prospect of Adrien Rabiot has never been more exciting because of it.

Transitioning is hard work. Not just for the club, and the players, and the manager and the owner (well, maybe not the owner so much, in Arsenal‘s case), but also for the fans. I have always been grateful for the stability at the club because you know what players and personnel are here for the long haul, there isn’t a constant shifting of the guard.

But with Unai Emery shifting into the spotlight, there is going to be exactly that, as he continues to decide which Wenger-era players he wants to keep, and which he wants to ship out in favor of players he can utilize better.

The midfield used to be Wenger’s favorite place to dabble in, and he had a solid base with which to build around. The problem was that he refused to invest in defensive midfielders to bolster that foundation.

Unai Emery’s situation is much different, and that’s what makes it so exciting. We are entering unchartered territories with Emery’s way forward with the midfield, because the foundation that he already has – Lucas Torreira, Granit Xhaka, Matteo Guendouzi – is already so reliable to the point that everything else we get is surplus to requirement.

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And, they all play a defensive, deep-lying role. And yes, that includes Xhaka, who has improved vastly in his defensive abilities.

So seeing a name like Adrien Rabiot linked heavily (yet again) is really, really exciting because nothing about this move is desperate. Nothing about this move is do or die. The midfield is already in fantastic shape, far and away our strongest, deepest position on the pitch.

All we would need is some flexibility with personnel and some players that can do what Ramsey, Ozil, Mkhitaryan do/are supposed to do.

Rabiot would be free, which is exciting enough. He was all but guaranteed to go to Barcelona, but that has since been thrown into question.

While he does play a box-to-box role, same as Guendouzi, same as Xhaka, same as Torreira, there is still room to accommodate and keep him happy, especially with all the exits that are just around the corner.

And hell, why couldn’t you move Xhaka to No. 10, or even Guendouzi. These are passing midfielders, and that is a passing role.