Over the past few months, Catalan newspaper Sport have been pushing Barcelona’s Ivan Rakitic towards Manchester United.
Sport now claims the La Liga winners will not improve the 31-year-old’s contract and this is partly to edge him out of the club.
At the Camp Nou, there’s a belief the Croatian will leave the club in this window. He is no longer irreplaceable for Ernesto Valverde, who has several options in the midfield.
Rakitic’s contract expires in 2021 contract and the time is right for Barcelona to cash in €50m from his sale this summer.
It’s claimed both Barca and Rakitic are ‘considering’ Manchester United and Inter Milan as the two possible destinations.
United’s interest is pushed again, mainly due to uncertainty around Paul Pogba’s future. It’s claimed that a few weeks ago, United contacted the Blaugrana to learn about Rakitic’s situation, but haven’t taken it forward from there.
Rakitic would prefer a move to Inter over United as he could earn more than at Old Trafford, due to Italy’s new tax laws. However, a move to Serie A remains more complicated as of now. 
Sport states the possibility of Manchester United making an approach for Rakitic could advance things. Barca, on their part, are clear they need a minimum €50m to sanction his sale.
Sport continues to fight a lone battle in their effort to push Rakitic towards United, but even their latest report does not provide any concrete indication the player will join the Premier League side.
