Arsenal have a fight on their hands if they are to sign Adrien Rabiot before the transfer window slams shut at the end of the month. With September fast approaching Goal.com reports that the 19-year-old midfielder is being eyed up by the Gunners and AC Milan but says Paris Saint-Germain manager Laurent Blanc is determined to hang on to the teenage sensation even though Thiago Motta, Yohan Cabaye, Blaise Matuidi and Marco Verratti all stand between him and regular first team football.
Asked if Rabiot was edging towards the PSG exit during a press conference on Thursday, Blanc replied: "I want Adrien Rabiot to remain in Paris." But the former Manchester United defender was forced to concede that events may be outside his control, admitting: "The decision is not mine, he might leave the club."
Rabiot has been offered a contract extension by the French champions but it's believed the prospect of regular game time at the Emirates could prompt him to buy a one-way ticket on the Eurostar.
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Another player whose future is causing a degree of excitement is Real Madrid winger Angel di Maria. The Argentina forward, also used as a midfielder, has been consistently linked with a big money move to Manchester United throughout the summer and Real boss Carlo Ancelotti was asked about the speculation ahead of Real's Super Cup second leg against Atletico Madrid this evening.
"Di Maria asked to go in the summer and has rejected an offer from the club," Ancelotti confessed to Spanish rag Marca. "The player has to look for a solution. If when the market closes he's still here, he will work with us like last season and there will be no problem."
Ancelotti also admitted that midfielder Sami Khedira has rejected a new contract, although the German World Cup winner has yet to express a desire to leave Madrid. But with Arsenal interested in the 27-year-old The Guardian wonders whether that admission might persuade Arsene Wenger to delve into savings.
Asked about Khedira's future at the Bernabeu, Ancelotti explained: "It's a different situation to Di María. He's not asked to go. He's rejected an offer to renew but has a year of contract. We'll see what happens."
Someone who doesn't look like moving on is Chelsea striker Fernando Torres. There had been hope that the Spanish flop could end his Stamford Bridge nightmare by doing a swap with Roma frontman Mattia Destro but that's been ruled out by the latter's agent, says Talksport. "It's true that Chelsea are interested in Mattia but the reports regarding a swap deal have no foundation, it's all speculation," said Renzo Contratto. "Roma don't want to sell Mattia and Mattia prefers to remain at Roma."
Finally, Queens Park Rangers have confirmed on their official site that they have signed Napoli striker Eduardo Vargas on loan. Boasting that they have "beaten off competition from a number of Europe's top clubs" – among them Arsenal - to sign Vargas, Rangers add that the Chilean is manager Harry Redknapp's sixth signing of the summer.
Vargas, who played in all four of Chile's World Cup games in Brazil this summer, was over the moon at the season-long loan, telling the website: "The Premier League is the best in the world, the most exciting in the world, and I am looking forward to competing in what is a super-competitive division."
