Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde still very much deems Ivan Rakitic as an important part of his team according to a report from ESPN.
The Croatian midfielder has drawn strong links to Inter for a number of months now and it was initially presumed that Barcelona would look to sell him this Summer due to the pending arrival of Frenkie de Jong who represents the future of the midfield at the Blaugrana and puts Rakitic’s short-term future at the club at risk.
Barcelona do not wish to sign him to a contract extension but that does not mean that they do not want to keep him around.
31-year-old Rakitic’s importance to the Barcelona cause has certainly been clear this season as evidenced by the fact he has made 42 appearances across all competitions.
The report goes on to detail that if Valverde was forced into selling any player currently at his disposal to help fund other moves, he would prefer to sell one of Samuel Umtiti or Philippe Coutinho over selling Rakitic.
