Manchester United and Chelsea were reportedly rejected by Ivan Rakitic in an attempt to bring the player to the Premier League.
Barcelona spent the transfer deadline with no flutter or speculation around the present players in the squad and without being linked to any further additions. Luis Enrique has added depth to his squad by bringing in the likes of Denis Suarez, Samuel Umtiti, Lucas Digne and Paco Alcacer while also replacing Claudio Bravo with Netherlands international Jasper Cillessen.
Arda Turan has stayed at Nou Camp despite being linked to a move away and has impressed in the Liga BBVA matches thus far ably filling up the void left by Neymar, who was on international duty during the time.
However, if reports from Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo are to be believed, Barcelona could well have lost an important cog in their midfield in Ivan Rakitic. The report claims that Manchester United and Chelsea both made offers in order to prize the Croatian away from the Catalan giants.
Mundo Deportivo revealed that the bids were ‘economically significant’ but that they were still shot down by the 28-year-old who chose to stay with the Blaugranes’ despite being linked with a move away from the club.
The report also added that Juventus also tried in vain, to sign the Croatian international as Rakitic was focused on his football with Barcelona and in general, satisfied with the life at the Catalan giants.
The publication stated that Rakitic was not interested in the offers and rejected the incoming proposals from the Premier League giants and defending Serie A champions.
Manchester United later went on to capture Paul Pogba involving a world-record transfer fee while Juventus signed Miralem Pjanic and Mario Lemina, although both of them arrived before the departure of the French superstar.
One wonders how the Croatian International would have adjusted to the rigors of the Premier League had he chosen to sign for either of the two clubs but Ivan Rakitic decided to stay in the Liga BBVA, a league where he has spent most of his playing career, previously plying his trade at Sevilla before making the move to Barcelona.
