A complete lack of rush is dominating Barcelona’s extension of Ivan Rakitic’s contract, with talks virtually ground to a halt over the midfielder’s removal from first-team activity.
Discarded from the matchday squad by Luis Enrique for the weekend draw with Villarreal, the Croatian can no longer be said to hold a guaranteed spot in the coach’s thoughts.
As such, discussions about Rakitic renewing
his vows at the Camp Nou are progressing extremely slowly, especially given that the terms of the deal are yet to be agreed upon after months of negotiations.
Neither the length nor the salary of the contract have produced a consensus between player and club, with the Blaugrana focusing their efforts on extending Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Andres Iniesta, and Lionel Messi’s stay in Catalunya instead.
With Rakitic’s existing deal not expiring until 2019, there can be little reason to be hasty at Barcelona, but the playmaker’s future is very much up in the air whilst Luis Enrique casts the 28-year-old to the fringes of his squad.
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