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Barcelona will regret not tying Ivan Rakitic to a new contract

By Kian Long

VILLAREAL, SPAIN - APRIL 02: Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona celebrate after the fourth goal of his team scored by Luis Suarez (not in frame) during the La Liga match between Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona at Estadio de la Ceramica on April 02, 2019 in Villareal, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images)
VILLAREAL, SPAIN - APRIL 02: Lionel Messi of Barcelona and Ivan Rakitic of Barcelona celebrate after the fourth goal of his team scored by Luis Suarez (not in frame) during the La Liga match between Villarreal CF and FC Barcelona at Estadio de la Ceramica on April 02, 2019 in Villareal, Spain. (Photo by Manuel Queimadelos Alonso/Getty Images) /
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Barcelona may have to accept a low offer for Ivan Rakitic…

Barcelona have been in the process of trying to sell Ivan Rakitic for the last few seasons. With the first-choice destination thought to be Manchester United, the Catalan club were not able to negotiate a reasonable price for him in January.

Instead, the Red Devils opted to sign Bruno Fernandes who has settled in superbly. To house both Rakitic and Bruno seems greedy, doesn’t it? Well, Manchester United won’t care. If they can land Rakitic on a cut-price deal then that’s exactly what they will do.

Especially with Paul Pogba looking for a move away in the summer, United will take all the midfield reinforcements they can get.

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Barcelona have only a year and a half until Rakitic’s current deal runs out and, let’s be honest, it doesn’t look like he’ll be signing an extension anytime soon. He has made just nine league starts this season with Frenkie De Jong taking his place in the starting XI.

Barca lowered their asking price for Rakitic in January to just £17m but still no club was willing to sign him for that price. Perhaps because they foresaw the inevitable, that the Catalans would find themselves in this position. Now, they risk losing him for peanuts.

According to Fox Sports, Atletico Madrid are now interested in capitalising on Rakitic’s situation. Of course, Rakitic will feel like any club will do in this situation so the fact it’s a league rival won’t bother him in the slightest. He just wants game time.

This should make the Barcelona hierarchy think long and hard about their contract strategy. To lose Rakitic for under £20m would have been silly but now it’s likely to be lower than that, if not free, they will have serious regrets.

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Do you think Barcelona should have knuckled down on Rakitic’s contract sooner?

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