Adrien Rabiot has played down talk of an exit, making clear he intends to report back for pre-season and continue at Milan for now.
The reassurance matters because Rabiot is exactly the kind of profile that draws summer noise. A France international on strong wages, coming off a major tournament run, is always going to attract questions, and with a new manager arriving the temptation is to read a departure into every non-answer. So his choice of words here is worth registering.
Asked directly whether he would be starting again with Milan, Rabiot replied: “Yes, obviously, then we will talk to the coach and Mike (Maignan), we will get in touch. We wanted to be calm during the World Cup and not be disturbed by other things. Now there will be time to talk calmly.”
He also addressed the coaching situation at both club and country. On Amorim and the Zidane speculation with France, he said: “No, I haven’t spoken to anyone, as I said before, but we will definitely talk to Amorim. Nothing’s official about Zidane; I don’t know if he will be the next coach.”
The one real downside for Milan is the calendar. Rabiot and Maignan will only join up at Milanello on August 12 after their extended break, which means both will miss most of the pre-season programme. For a midfielder who needs to build an understanding with a new manager and a new system, arriving late is not ideal, even if the rest is earned after a deep run at the World Cup that ended in a 6-4 shootout defeat to England in the third-place game.
The words are the right ones, but words in July rarely settle anything. The real test comes when Rabiot sits down with Amorim and hears where he fits, and that conversation, by his own admission, hasn’t happened yet.