Tottenham Hotspur are leading the race to sign Adrien Rabiot, according to reports in Italy...

What's the word?

Corriere dello Sport claim that the France midfielder is expected to leave Juventus during the January transfer window as he enters the final six months of his current £148k-per-week contract.

However, despite appearing at the front of the queue to sign the World Cup finalist, the north London outfit are facing stiff competition from the likes of Bayern Munich, FC Barcelona and his former club, Paris Saint-Germain.

It's also thought that the Old Lady are only demanding around €15m (£13m).

Paratici masterclass

This sort of move has all the hallmarks of being another transfer masterclass from Lilywhites sporting director Fabio Paratici, following the same sort of process as signing Rodrigo Bentancur nearly a year ago.

Something of a divisive figure in Turin, the Uruguayan has become an instant favourite with his eye-catching displays in the Premier League for Spurs and whilst Rabiot has recently caught the eye on the world's biggest stage by reaching the final as a Les Bleus regular, it hasn't always been easy in the black and white stripes of Juve.

Back in 2013, the Frenchman was described as an "absolute monster" by journalist Robin Bairner and he's gone full circle because in Qatar, ex-West Ham United star Frederic Piquionne lauded him as the "best player" at the tournament, also comparing him to the great Emmanuel Petit.

Across five starts, Rabiot averaged a 7.13 rating on Sofascore as he was the hard-working metronome of Didier Deschamps' engine room. Indeed, he ran 12.1km, 11.6km and 11km in games against Australia, Denmark and Poland, whilst he also averaged two tackles and 1.7 interceptions per game, too.

It was only at the end of last season that the Juve midfielder was named in Sportmediaset's 'Flop XI' (via Get Football News Italy), so it shows just how far he's come in such a short space of time and he ought to continue that upward trend in the Premier League, where Spurs have proven success in aiding that development - as seen by Bentancur's impressive rise under Antonio Conte.

As such, if Paratici does manage to get a deal for the World Cup sensation done for just £13m, then it could well be another masterclass on the cards and one that would hugely benefit the Italian's depth options heading into a hectic schedule in the second half of the 2022/23 campaign.

AND in other news, Paratici can make big statement by signing £78m "monster" who's "what Tottenham need"...