The front cover of Friday’s edition of Mundo Deportivo very much belongs to Ivan Rakitic. The Barcelona midfielder looks set to be the latest at the club to go into serious renewal talks and, hopefully for Barca, come out of it with a new contract.
To spice things up, Mundo also say on their front page that Rakitic has other potential brides, with ‘Mou’ mentioned. Bringing Jose Mourinho into it, and mentioning him on the front page, will obviously sell more newspaper in Catalonia, where he remains a pantomime villain.
It’s what’s inside which is more interesting. Mundo Deportivo say that last summer Manchester United offered Rakitic a contract worth €10m per season after tax. Juventus were also interested, seeing Rakitic as a possible replacement for Paul Pogba.
Seeing as Pogba went to Manchester United, it may be thought Mourinho has scratched that particular itch, and inside the newspaper Mundo Deportivo make it sound less of an ongoing thing than they do on the cover.
Rakitic’s contract with Barcelona runs until June 2019, so there’s no big panic right now. The issue would come if the Croatian midfielder feels he’s being undervalued. When Barcelona bought Andre Gomes in the summer, Rakitic’s ‘agent’ made his annoyance public (the player later distanced himself from the man involved), and if Barca offer a renewal deemed too low, trouble ahead can’t be ruled out.
Turning 29 next March, it’s got to be considered unlikely any team would pay the player’s €100m clause. If a renewal is hard to come by, and Andre Gomes fulfils the hype, which has been inflated, then Barcelona would likely accept much less.
Interestingly, in January Rakitic thought he’d get his renewal soon, making that clear by saying: “Bit by bit we are negotiating a new deal and soon there will be news.”
There wasn’t. There’s the possibility this one drags on, and allows other clubs in.
It’s worth again pointing out that despite the hint on the front page, Mundo Deportivo say Manchester United’s offer was last summer. In a separate column, the journalist Josep M. Artelis says there’s ‘siren song’ from Manchester United, but that seems based on assumption that Mourinho and Ed Woodward are always looking.
