Spanish giants Barcelona’s midfielder Ivan Rakitic has been spending this season on the bench as a new arrival in the squad, Frenkie de Jong, has replaced him in the starting XI. There were multiple reports which claimed that Rakitic may be on his way out of the club but in a recent media interaction the Croatian star has stated that he was not aware of that he would not be a part of manager Ernesto Valverde’s plans and thus he did not try hard to depart from the club.

According to reports from Spanish television presenter Manu Carreno, Valverde did not inform the 31-year-old midfielder that he would no longer be a part of his plans. Consequently, he did not seem desperate for a move out of the club. Raktic has now been linked with a move to Serie A but only time will tell if the deal will eventually happen.

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Rakitic shed light upon the entire episode in an interview with Universo Valdano on Movistar.

“How can I enjoy it? It’s like I’ve said many times, how does my little daughter feel when you take a toy from here?

“She feels sad. Well, I feel the same. They took my ball. I feel sad,” Rakitic said in that interview.

“I understand and respect the decisions of the coach or a club or whatever, but I think I’ve given a lot in these five years and I’ve been at my peak here. And what I want is to be able to continue enjoying, that is the most important thing for me. I enjoy playing.

“I’m 31 years old, I’m not 38, and I feel at my best,” he added