According to the reports from the Daily Star, Barcelona are willing to sell Ivan Rakitic in January who has fallen in the pecking order at Camp Nou. A poor last season and the signing of Dutch star Frenkie De Jong has limited the former Sevilla midfielder’s involvement in the first team so far. Rakitic has started just one game in all competitions for Barcelona this season.
Why are United interested in Rakitic?
Manchester United are said to be interested in making a move for him. The club is looking to sign younger players, but they are willing to bend the rules for someone like Rakitic as they have lacked creativity in midfield. They rely heavily on Paul Pogba to provide the creative spark, but the World Cup winner has been inconsistent. Moreover, he is out until December with injury, and the club doesn’t have a creative midfielder beyond him.
Juventus are also said to be interested, and they have lured quite a few players on cut-price deals in the last few years. It remains to be seen how concrete Juventus’ interest are in Rakitic given the options they already have in midfield.
Rakitic’s current deal runs out in 2021, and it remains to be seen what kind of price the La Liga holders puts up on the World Cup finalist.
Should Solskjær make a move?
On paper, the signing looks a good one as Rakitic has ample experience at the top level and he played a crucial role at Barcelona in winning some of the titles in the last few years. However, it cannot be ignored that his career has been on a downward trajectory in the past year. The game has looked too quick for him, and a league like the Premier League could really trouble the 31-year-old.
His performance in the Champions League semi-final against Liverpool at Anfield was shambolic as he looked well behind the pace of the game. We think that Manchester United should be careful before making another high profile signing.
Rakitic’s signing will be quite similar to the arrival of Bastian Schweinsteiger. The German World Cup winner came in with great reputation in 2015 and was signed with a lot of gung ho. But it was clear that he was past his prime when he played at Old Trafford. United need to be careful about not making a similar mistake as Rakitic has been dreadful for Barcelona in the last 12 months.
