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Man Utd have a transfer opportunity - Barcelona chasing Neymar must prompt decisive action
MANCHESTER UNITED need midfielders, Barcelona require funds to buy Neymar and Ed Woodward craves signings to appease a baying fanbase. Ivan Rakitic may just end up being the perfect tonic for more than one party.
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Manchester United have, somewhat inevitably, been linked with Rakitic at a time when his Barcelona future is up in the air.
The player himself wants to stay at the Nou Camp. The Croatia international is settled in Catalonia, having lived there ever since his arrival from Sevilla in 2014.
The problem is, though, that Barcelona want Neymar. And, having already splurged megabucks on Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Greizmann, they need to cut players loose to make it happen.
Rakitic may be one of those. He is not indispensable at a club where they have Sergio Busquets, Arthur Melo, Frankie De Jong and Arturo Vidal on the books.
This situation gives United a glorious opportunity. For two reasons.
Firstly, while it’s all very well and good that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants younger players, his club needs leaders.
Leaders, and experience.
United just don’t have any serial winners in their squad. When Zlatan Ibrahimovic left in March 2018, as did their best prospects of silverware.
Ibrahimovic was a leader at United. He didn’t need the captaincy - he was an iconic figure both on and off the field.
He kept Paul Pogba in check, ensuring the Frenchman and Jose Mourinho saw eye to eye. Given how things went south after Ibrahimovic’s departure, that was some achievement.
Look at the contenders for the United captaincy.
Ashley Young may get it given he’s a veteran of this squad. David De Gea, who made too many errors last term, is another contender. And then there’s Pogba, a player who wants out.
Rakitic would give United the experience they need. Barcelona want him gone and, for that alone, he’s worth a punt.
A second reason is the fact that, Pogba aside, he’s an upgrade on anything the Red Devils have right now.
Their midfield is thin. Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera have recently left for Shandong Luneng Taishan and Paris Saint-Germain respectively - but neither has been replaced.
There’s a lot of talk, albeit from foreign outlets, that Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Bruno Fernandes are being eyed up.
But nothing seems concrete. There’s a lot of whispers, a lot of rumours, but nothing set in stone.
Rakitic would be the ideal player in Solskjaer’s midfield.
United need somebody capable of dictating games. Pogba, Andreas Pereira, Fred and Scott McTominay can’t do that.
Rakitic can, however. Barcelona have never scaled the same heights they reached under Pep Guardiola but the Croatia international is not the reason why.
Sure, he’s 31. 32 in March. But that shouldn’t matter.
Because, with Barcelona wanting to get him off the books to fund a swoop for Neymar, United have an opportunity.
One that Woodward cannot allow to pass.