Just a year ago, it seemed like Ivan Rakitic is a core player for Barcelona, with the team rejecting multiple transfer offers for him. But in recent two transfer windows, the La Liga side wasn’t shy about letting other clubs know that Croatian midfielder is for sale.
Barca has recently made several of their players available in transfer talks, trying to accumulate funds for their pursuits of Paris Saint-Germain’s superstar Neymar and Inter Milan’s forwards Lautaro Martinez. Rakitic was identified as one of those players and the likeliest to leave Camp Nou considering his solid value on the market. As you can guess, this didn’t sit well with the player himself.
Rakitic recently had an interview with Spanish media outlet Mundo Deportivo, in which he expressed his unhappiness about the way he is treated by the Catalan giant.
“I understand the situation, but I am not a sack of potatoes to do whatever you want with,” said Rakitic.
According to the 32-year-old, he is only interested in leaving for a club that he wants to play with, and not the club Barcelona agrees on a transfer fee with.
“The most important thing for me is to be in a place where I am wanted, respected, and needed. And also where both my family and I feel good. If that is [Barca], perfect, if not, it will be where I decide, not anyone else,” he added.
Besides wanting to collect funds, Barca is also keen to sell Ivan Rakitic because he didn’t play much this season. Rakitic mainly entered the games from the bench, and has only played 962 minutes in La Liga. He contributed with four assists and has failed to score a single goal this season.
Rakitic should draw a crowd once the transfer window is open, and there will likely be a number of teams who will want to bring the experienced midfielder. However, Barca will probably had to cut their price for him considering the bad form and his advanced age.
