Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has reportedly attracted interest from Inter Milan among other European giants for a move in the summer transfer window.
TransferMarketWeb have revealed that Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has been scouted by Inter Milan, whose CEO, Giuseppe Marotta, has previously attempted to sign him, while at Juventus, in the recent past.
The 30-year-old has been a pivotal figure at the heart of the Barcelona midfield since arriving from Sevilla in 2014. Rakitic has made over 50 appearances in each of the last four campaigns, and he is well on his way to repeat that feat again this season too, with 32 outings to his name already.
Already on the wish list of several European giants over the last few transfer windows, including the likes of Juventus, Manchester City, Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain, the 30-year-old was most recently linked with Chelsea. Therefore, it is likely that the Croatian international will be a hot property in the summer transfer window.
However, in an interview with Italian newspaper, Tuttosport (h/t Sport), the player’s agent Arturo Canales has squashed all possibilities of a move away from Barcelona in the near future, insisting, “Ivan wants to leave Spain in the summer? That’s impossible.”
With Barcelona splashing out €75 million on Frenkie de Jong, there have been rumours that Rakitic could be the collateral damage, with the midfield unit in Ernesto Valverde’s squad set to be a stacked one post the summer transfer window.
As far as Inter Milan are concerned, the Nerazzurri could do with a player like Rakitic, who could be the schemer in the middle of the park and be the perfect foil for midfielders like Matias Vecino, Marcelo Brozovic and even Radja Nainggolan, who has struggled for form this season.
Matching €9.5 million-a-year wages is unlikely to pose a problem to Inter either. What might be an obstacle will be persuading the 30-year-old to call it quits at Barcelona at the peak of his powers, particularly if the Blaugrana are not keen on parting ways with the star midfielder.
Indeed, Barcelona have other midfielders to offload first, with the likes of Andre Gomes, Denis Suarez and Rafinha likely to be ahead of Rakitic in the pecking order, when the players start getting sold in the summer. And so, as things stand, a move to Inter Milan looks highly unlikely.
