Real Madrid reportedly made an attempt to secure a transfer for Barcelona playmaker Ivan Rakitic during the summer transfer window.
Real Madrid have had a truly forgettable summer transfer window as Florentino Perez faced failure in the pursuit of multiple players including the likes of Paul Pogba, who joined Manchester United and Andre Gomes, who rejected Los Blancos in favour of a move to rivals Barcelona.
There were reports that Real Madrid made approaches to Neymar in an attempt to pry the Brazilian away from Barcelona, another move which fell flat. Spanish media outlet Mundo Deportivo have now sensationally claimed that Neymar was not the only player to be the subject of a poaching attempt.
It is speculated by Mundo Deportivo that Croatian midfield general Ivan Rakitic was also approached by Real Madrid, with the Spanish giants looking to grasp the opportunity of growing competition within Barcelona ranks in order to convince the Croatian to move to the Spanish capital.
Rakitic was also approached by Los Blancos during his time at Sevilla but the midfielder was rumoured to have rejected both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in favour of a move to the Catalan side. The report has also added that the approach by Real Madrid to the player’s agent was quickly refuted by the midfielder, who gave a quick and firm ‘NO’ in reply to the possibility of moving from Barcelona to Real Madrid.
Barcelona have added the likes of Denis Suarez and Andre Gomes to their midfield roster, but the Croatian seems to have no problem with the competition within the ranks at Nou Camp.
The 28-year-old had also received offers from the likes of Manchester United and Chelsea with the Premier League duo also receiving the same answer as Real Madrid.