Throughout the summer, there were a number of rumours surrounding the future of Ivan Rakitić floating around.
The Barcelona player saw the arrival of Frenkie De Jong from Ajax, and with huge talks surrounding the possible return of Neymar to the Nou Camp (which meant a need for money), the veteran midfielder’s status at the club appeared to be wavering.
Reportedly included in the negotiations for the Brazilian, with the Catalans happy to send him to Paris as part of the package, Rakitić kept relatively quiet.
However, his desire to stay with the La Liga champions might have backfired a bit, since he’s barely played this season, starting just once since the start of the campaign, and that was in this weekend’s 2-0 loss to newly promoted Granada.
He didn’t exactly impress (subbed off in the 62nd minute), and it seems his performance didn’t please Ernesto Valverde either, who hasn’t chosen him to be a part of his squad to face Villarreal midweek.
Speaking to the press on Monday, the Barcelona manager explained his choice, relayed by Sport: “Rakitić isn’t injured. It’s a question of players, we have many and there’s a need to rotate”.
The same outlet see it as the Croatian being one of the first casualties of this weekend’s lacklustre performance, and this willingness to sacrifice a player who has been important to Barcelona over the years could suggest his time at the club is coming to an end.
At 31 years of age, the playmaker will want to be featuring regularly, and if his situation doesn’t improve in the next few months, a move away should and probably will be seriously considered.
Our guess, judging by previous reported interest, is he also won’t lack suitors when the time comes.
