Ernesto Valverde willing to let Ivan Rakitic leave for right price

Ernesto Valverde will not stand in the way of a potential sale of midfielder, Ivan Rakitic.

Ernesto Valverde returned from vacation and met with Josep Maria Bartomeu where the duo discussed plans for next season including the future of Ivan Rakitic. According to a report in Mundo Deportivo, Valverde would not stand in the way of the club selling Rakitic. That is, of course, if they get the right price.

The report states that Barcelona sees Ivan Rakitic as a player who still has some time left playing at a high level and a player that the club could get the most money out of should they choose to sell him.

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Rakitic has been one of Valverde’s most trusted player ever since he took over back in 2017. The Croatian midfielder has featured in 109 games under Valverde and has been a consistent starter since arriving in the 2014/15 season from Sevilla.

His time at Barcelona has been more positive than negative despite the over-the-top criticism from some of the Barcelona faithful. There is a reason why he has played so much under Valverde and is one of the first names on the team sheet. He can serve many functions on the pitch. He can play anywhere in midfield and has been used numerous times when Sergio Busquets has been given a rest.

His role at Barcelona has been different than the role he had at Sevilla. At Sevilla, he had more responsibilities going forward and linking play. At Barcelona, the creativity and goal-scoring was all handled by the likes of Messi, Suarez, and, for a time, Neymar. Rakitic’s role much of the time was to help out defensively and cover for some of the space left on the right. Basically, Rakitic was there to do some of the dirty work.

At 31-years-old, he may not be able to do some of the things as well as he used to which is why he has come under a lot of criticism. At the same time, that is not all his fault. He was not solely responsible for the team’s collapse in back-to-back Champions League and has had a successful career at the club. That he was not Xavi Hernandez is not his fault. He was never going to be that.

With Frenkie de Jong coming to Barcelona and Carles Aleña knocking at the door for more playing time, someone was going to have to be sold in order to make room. As mentioned before, Barcelona believes they can get the most by offloading Rakitic.

There are rumors that he has a market in Serie A and that Manchester United are interested in him. If he is sold, his time at Barcelona should be remembered fondly.