Ismael sets out squad aim as boss discusses contract timeframes
Valerien Ismael says Rovers would have '90 per cent' of their business done for the start of pre-season in an ideal world – but admits that 'patience' might be needed in some cases.
Ismael is preparing for his first transfer window at Ewood Park and has already identified 'some profiles' which the squad is missing.
But it is the out-of-contract quintet who have been the main talking point lately. The head coach has made it clear he would like to keep Tyrhys Dolan, Danny Batth, Andi Weimann, Ryan Hedges and Adam Forshaw at the club.
Rovers are yet to make any announcements over the futures of those players, with varying timeframes on when decisions will be made.
Following the final game of the season at Sheffield United, Ismael was quizzed about how quickly he needs those decisions.
'The good thing is we have enough time now until the pre-season starts,' he said. 'So for sure we need the player time to take the decision, but at some point it's clear.
'Ideal for me is when you have the first training day that we've got 90 per cent of the squad, this will be our target.'
When asked how realistic that is, the boss replied: 'As I say, because we want to keep the vast majority of the squad it makes it easier to discuss with the players.
'They've got the feeling, they train, they feel something as well. So hopefully we can move quickly on some players.
'At least we've got the core, and we know for other positions we need to have more patience.
'Tyrhys Dolan, for example, will be an example to have patience. It will be his decision, but now the good thing is we have time.'
Meanwhile, two more teams in next season's Championship line-up will be confirmed this week after the play-off semi-final second legs.
Sheffield United lead Bristol City 3-0 on aggregate ahead of the return leg at Bramall Lane tonight.
Sunderland take a 2-1 aggregate lead back to the Stadium of Light against Coventry on Tuesday night.
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New York Times
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- New York Times
Adrien Rabiot interview: Man Utd interest, Juventus development and his mother's influence
Had things panned out differently last summer, Adrien Rabiot might have spent this season playing for Manchester United. United have been long-term admirers of the tousle-haired French midfielder and made the latest in a long line of approaches to him last year following the end of his five-year spell at Juventus. But instead, he made the bold and eyebrow-raising decision to join Marseille. Advertisement Given the drastically contrasting trajectories the two clubs have pursued over the intervening months — Marseille brilliantly securing automatic Champions League qualification for only the third time since 2013, United slumping to their lowest league finish since 1974 — it is not a choice that he has had much reason to reflect on. 'It really could have happened two years ago, when I was coming to the end of my contract at Juventus and I finally decided to extend by a year,' he says. 'We had great talks, and there were written offers. But in the end, it didn't happen. 'Last year as well, when I was free, they came back in again. I had good talks with them again. But it's true that it was a bit tricky. The situation they're in at the moment… I felt a bit of reticence about whether United were going to be able to go on and achieve great things. Because they're in a bit of a hole at the moment.' Rabiot says his focus is always on what is coming rather than what might have been. 'I have no regrets in my career,' he adds. 'I've always been very happy with the choices I've made. I've always enjoyed myself. At PSG, I won. At Juve, I won and I learnt a lot. 'I arrived at Marseille and I had a great season. I helped the club to fulfil its objectives by qualifying (for the Champions League) in my first season. So no, no regrets.' Were his curiosity about life at United ever to be piqued, Rabiot would not have to look far for someone who could give him the inside track on the club. Former United prospect Mason Greenwood made a comparably headline-grabbing switch to Marseille last summer. Greenwood and Rabiot struck up a fruitful on-pitch understanding at Stade Velodrome, spending a significant portion of the campaign playing as twin No 10s in a 3-4-2-1 system concocted by Roberto De Zerbi. Advertisement Whereas Rabiot had free rein to pick his next club, Greenwood's choices were narrowed by the fact he left United after allegations of attempted rape, coercive and controlling behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm. Greenwood strongly denied all the allegations, and the UK's Crown Prosecution Service ultimately discontinued proceedings against him. The 23-year-old Englishman made an immediate impact at Marseille and finished his maiden campaign as Ligue 1's joint-top scorer alongside Ousmane Dembele with 21 goals, only losing out on the official prize because he had scored more penalties than the PSG forward. Despite having been publicly rebuked at times by De Zerbi for a lack of effort, Greenwood has made a major impression on Rabiot. 'Mason is an incredible player,' says the midfielder. 'If he hadn't had all of his problems, I think he'd have an image like (Jude) Bellingham. Mason would be the star. 'Because he's an exceptional player. He can score with his right foot and his left foot, he has an exceptional shot, he can dribble. We're very lucky to have him. When he's really focused, he does really great things.' With his 6ft 3in height, elegant technique, boundless stamina and powerful running style, Rabiot has long appeared to possess the kind of attributes required to thrive in the English top flight, a championship he follows closely. 'English football is very attractive,' says the France international, who briefly spent time on Manchester City's books as a youngster. 'Everyone knows that it's the best league and the football it produces is a spectacle every weekend. There are lots of very good teams, and the league is uncertain. 'You know that the team in 18th place is capable of beating the team in first or second place. At the start of the season, you really don't know who's going to win (the league) and who's going to get into Europe. It was really tight right until the end. Advertisement 'And then there are new teams that emerge every year, which makes it a really top league. So yes, I've always got an eye on the Premier League.' Rabiot's signing last September was a massive coup for Marseille, who had finished eighth in Ligue 1 the previous season and consequently had no European football to offer him. The club's famously passionate fans, thrilled by the furious reaction to the switch back in Paris, welcomed him with open arms. He immediately found common ground with De Zerbi, whose arrival from Brighton & Hove Albion had generated a similar level of excitement. 'I clicked with him straight away,' Rabiot says. 'He's someone who talks a lot, who exchanges, who explains his ideas and who tries to find the right position for every player. 'He works a lot tactically. He spends his days at the training centre, from morning to night. He's football crazy. That's something that I appreciated because to really succeed, you have to have that passion, that determination, that desire, that ambition. 'We hit it off straight away, and we talked a lot. He asked me, as the most experienced player, to lift the team up and bring the other players along with me. That's what we did. 'Everyone knows the coach De Zerbi is. He was at Brighton and did great things. In Italy, he has a reputation. He must have received a lot of offers. He's been very important this season for Marseille and I think that the French league is lucky to have a coach like him here.' 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He nevertheless finished his spell at the club strongly under Massimiliano Allegri, who appointed him vice-captain in 2023, and says that his half-decade in northern Italy opened his eyes to the demands at the very highest level. 'It was an important step in my career,' Rabiot says. 'It was a period when I gained maturity and when I took on the mentality that they develop at Juventus: work, selflessness, sacrifice. They're things that you learn and that become part of you. Advertisement 'My time at Juventus was very useful to me. It allowed me to grow up a huge amount. I experienced great things, I won titles. But it's also the people I worked with, the players I played with. 'I think of the players who were there when I arrived — the Cristiano Ronaldos, the Gigi Buffons, the Giorgio Chiellinis, the (Leonardo) Bonuccis. They're players who have that mentality, and they transmit it. They were examples for me.' Twenty-five years before Rabiot's move to Juventus, another industrious French central midfielder had crossed the Alps to hone his trade during a five-year spell in Turin. Deschamps joined Juventus from Marseille in 1994 and has credited his own experience of Italian football with enabling him to develop the fierce winner's mentality that has since become his trademark. Deschamps brought Rabiot's two years of international exile to an end in September 2020 and the midfielder has since become one of his principal lieutenants, forming part of France's first-choice XI at both the 2022 World Cup and Euro 2024. 'When I first came in, I was very young,' says Rabiot, who was 21 when he won the first of his 53 France caps in November 2016. 'So inevitably, you don't have the experience and all the things I might have now that enable you to have a relationship with a coach. 'The more experienced players who had been here for longer had a different kind of relationship with him. Little by little, that kind of relationship develops through the moments you spend together and the tournaments you play in. 'Now we have a relationship where we're able to say things to each other. There's real trust between us. For a national coach, I think it's important to have players you can lean on and say things to.' Having turned 30 in April, Rabiot is one of the oldest and most experienced members of the current squad. With youngsters such as Desire Doue, Bradley Barcola, Warren Zaire-Emery and Rayan Cherki all in the foothills of their international careers, he now finds himself being looked up to in the same way that he looked up to his battle-hardened former Juventus team-mates during his early days in Turin. Advertisement 'For me it's about setting an example on the pitch,' says Rabiot, who was speaking before France's remarkable 5-4 defeat by Spain in the UEFA Nations League semi-finals. 'Showing that when you arrive here, you have to give everything, whether it's in training or matches, and having that mentality of always wanting to win for France. 'Knowing that the collective is more important than any individual, that we're all together, whether we win or lose. Showing those values and trying to transmit them. It's an important role to have with certain players as one of the older players in the team.' Rabiot has been advised by his mother, Veronique, since the very beginning of his career. She took the lead after Adrien's father, Michel Provost, suffered a severe stroke in 2007 that left him with locked-in syndrome and she has succeeded in carving out a reputation as a formidable negotiator. 'She's always supported me,' Rabiot says. 'She's always been by my side and she's always said: 'You concentrate on your football and what happens on the pitch. I'll handle everything else.' 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(Video): Chelsea player fighting for his first team place shows impressive long ball skill
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Yahoo
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