Playing for 90
Fansided

3 reasons Juventus shouldn’t make Bernardeschi-Rakitic swap with Barcelona

By John Vaccaro

BERGAMO, ITALY - JANUARY 30: Juventus player Federico Bernardeschi during the Coppa Italia match between Atalanta BC and Juventus at Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia on January 30, 2019 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)
BERGAMO, ITALY - JANUARY 30: Juventus player Federico Bernardeschi during the Coppa Italia match between Atalanta BC and Juventus at Stadio Atleti Azzurri d'Italia on January 30, 2019 in Bergamo, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato - Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 3
Next
BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 02: Ivan Rakitic, midfielder of FC Barcelona with the ball during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Valencia CF at Camp Nou Stadium on February 02, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Sanchez Martinez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN – FEBRUARY 02: Ivan Rakitic, midfielder of FC Barcelona with the ball during the La Liga match between FC Barcelona and Valencia CF at Camp Nou Stadium on February 02, 2019 in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Carlos Sanchez Martinez/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Rakitic Won’t Help Their Title Chances

If you had told me a couple of years ago that Juventus was acquiring Ivan Rakitic from Barcelona, I would have been absolutely thrilled. Now, I can’t really see him making much of a difference at Juve.

Much like the aging midfielders that Juve already has, Rakitic isn’t quite the player he used to be anymore. He hasn’t looked great in the appearances he’s made this season and those appearances haven’t come all that frequently. There’s a reason why he has been relegated to a backup role this season and that’s because he just hasn’t been good enough to justify starting regularly.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve never seen adding a backup from one of the squads you’re competing with as a particularly effective way to win trophies. This move wouldn’t make Juve’s midfield better than Barcelona’s or Manchester City’s and I don’t even see it closing the gap by much. If the move isn’t going to help Juve win the Champions League, then they must believe it will help them keep their lead over Inter Milan, but I don’t see that being the case either.

There are 2 scenarios that can play out over the next 9 days. Either Inter Milan signs Christian Eriksen and makes a Juve move for Rakitic irrelevant or they don’t sign Eriksen and Juve doesn’t need Ivan Rakitic to remain the slightly superior team.

If I truly believed that there was some way that signing Rakitic from Barcelona would be the push Juve needs to win another trophy then I would absolutely support them bringing him in, but I really just don’t see this being the move that Juve needs in either of their most important competitions.

Home/Serie A