Manchester United and Chelsea tried to sign this Barcelona star - reports in Spain
MANCHESTER UNITED and Chelsea were both reportedly interested in signing Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic this summer.
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Rakitic left Sevilla to join Barca in 2014, signing a five-year deal with the Catalan club.
He has since gone on to make 118 appearances for the La Liga giants, scoring 18 goals in the process.
But according to Spanish outlet Mundo Deportivo, a number of European clubs were interested in his signature this summer.
Manchester United, Chelsea and Italian giants Juventus were all apparently ready to make offers for the Croatia international.
However, United boss Jose Mourinho instead turned his attention to a world-record deal for Paul Pogba.
While Blues manager Antonio Conte failed to sign a creative midfielder, missing out on a late deal for Inter Milan’s Marcelo Brozovic.
Rakitic was not interested in leaving the Nou Camp though as the Catalan club are planning to award him, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez new deals.
“We will speak to Messi just as we will talk to Suarez and Rakitic,” Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu said earlier this week.
“We will do so in the next few months because we want them to renew their contracts.”
