Roberto De Zerbi is not surprised that Adrien Rabiot has had a big impact already at AC Milan, based on what he showed in Marseille.
Rabiot joined Milan towards the end of the summer window from Marseille, where he had a bust-up with Jonathan Rowe that led to both being told to leave the club. It allowed the Rossoneri to swoop and secure one of Massimiliano Allegri’s favourite midfielders in a bargain deal.
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‘He can do everything’
De Zerbi was the one to lose out of course, as Rabiot departed the club. The current Marseille coach spoke on the Viva el Futbol podcast about the French midfielder and why it is not a shock to him that he has had such a big impact with the Diavolo so far.
“Rabiot is shifting the balance, you can see that. He can do everything, he’s a complete player, he knows how to defend and attack,” he said (via MilanPress).
“He’s a good guy, but in Marseille it didn’t end the way we wanted. It’s also thanks to him that we reached the Champions League. With us, he played like a number 10 and made the difference, it’s not his role, but he scored a lot of goals.”
The remarkable statistic still holds true that Milan are yet to lose a league game that Rabiot has played in. He arrived after the only Serie A defeat of the 2025-26 campaign so far, back in round one against Cremonese.
I see him as the perfect successor to Max. Milanista, proving his quality in Ligue 1. Marseille was in dire state before his arrival. Just pure class!
I won’t mind De Zerbi down the road. I was skeptical he wasn’t ready following his Brighton stint as he seemed pretty naive with his tactics. I haven’t watch marseille at all since his arrival but it seems he’s preforming well enough to be appreciated by their fans and the club.