Team Previews: Juventus midfielders need to show growth this year
By Nick Belotto
Juve is lucky to have Adrien Rabiot back for another season.
After a somewhat uneven career with the Bianconeri, he seemed to figure things out last year. There was a lot of talk that Rabiot would leave Turin this summer but he ended up renewing his contract and will have at least one more year in black and white. That is incredible for Juventus as he was their most consistent player last year.
Rabiot ended up scoring 8 goals and setting up 4 assists in 32 matches for Juventus in Serie A last season. That was, by far, his strongest season in Turin and, as mentioned before, he looked like the midfielder he was always expected to be.
He was dominant in possession and great at moving the ball up the pitch. Rabiot was extremely helpful in the opponent’s box and did a great job getting back on defense. He really developed into a true box-to-box midfielder last season.
He’s also only 28 years old which means that he could still have a couple of strong years left.
There is, of course, a small cause for hesitation going into this year though. Is it possible for him to duplicate that performance? He will be vying again for another big payday throughout the year, so there is enough on the table for him to have another good year. Yet, over his time in Turin, he has been inconsistent, so it’s hard to say which version of Rabiot the team is going to get.
If they get the version from last year, this midfield is going to be one of the best in Italy.