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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) /
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TURIN, ITALY – JANUARY 02: Juventus’ new player Dejan Kulusevski poses with Pavel Nedved on January 02, 2020 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images)
TURIN, ITALY – JANUARY 02: Juventus’ new player Dejan Kulusevski poses with Pavel Nedved on January 02, 2020 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Juventus FC via Getty Images) /

What Do They Do With Rakitic After This Year?

Signing Ivan Rakitic right now might seem like a good idea for Juve as they try to hold off Inter in the league while also competing in the Champions League, but there is a huge problem that they don’t seem to be considering. What exactly are they supposed to do with him next year?

Rakitic has already shown signs that he’s starting to decline this season and he’ll be 32 in March. There is no reason to believe if he’s already declining that he wouldn’t be worse next season. This

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would create the same problem for Juventus that they already had this season. They’d have too many aging midfielders holding back their play and preventing younger, better equipped players from joining the starting lineup.

That last part is my biggest concern. This is a Juventus team that has already struggled to integrate Adrien Rabiot into their starting lineup and let Rodrigo Bentancur rot on the bench until Sami Khedira was injured. Next year, they’ll be adding Dejan Kulusevski to the mix. Even if Juve were to sell Blaise Matuidi, Sami Khedira, and Emre Can before the end of the summer, they would still be left with Kulusevski, Bentancur, Pjanic, Rabiot, and Aaron Ramsey in their midfield. Plus they should be looking to sign Sandro Tonali as soon as they can and they could need to sign another midfielder over the summer if Rakitic doesn’t end up being the savior they hope he’ll be. This would cause Juve to stifle the growth of more young players on their squad and would seriously hinder the development of the future of their squad.

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I really don’t think that adding another aging midfielder who will block Juve’s younger talents from getting playing time is the right answer for this squad. That becomes especially true next season, as I believe Ivan Rakitic would just be a hindrance to next year’s club and the development of what should be a squad full of young talent.

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