Should Barcelona renew Ivan Rakitić or not?

[DonAK]

Rakitic currently has a contract running until 2021 and last renewed it with a pay rise March 10, 2017.

He has been very vocal about wanting to stay here for "many years" and has tried to publicly pressure Bartomeu into giving him a contract extension with a pay rise, seemingly something he feel he deserves after Pique and Busquets got theirs the last 6 months.

It's now reported Valverde is almost demanding he stays while the club are leaning towards selling him this summer due to his age, last chance at getting some value for him and a replacement coming in, as well as them not wanting to give him a contract extension and a bigger salary.

Should Barcelona however renew his contract like Alba to potentially 2023/2024 and let Rakitic stay at the club for how long he want?

 

[El Flaco]

Short answer: No

 

[Barcaman]

"Many years"

All due respect but who does he think he is to play here until 35? Xavi? Iniesta?

I have no doubts he's very comfortable (too comfortable) in Barcelona and would love to stay.

Bless them, it's great to have Messi dragging entire team.

 

[DonAK]

That's what he said during the MD Gala where Messi received the MVP Award for La Liga 2017/18. He said he want to renew his contract and stay for many years and has tried talking to Bartomeu about it personally too, Barto however seem very non-committal right now.

 

[DonAK]

An alternative can always be Barca and Rakitic agreeing he stays for another year, without a contract renewal, to smoothen the transition from Rakitic to Frenkie de Jong next season, however I'm not sure Rakitic will agree to that. It's soon his last chance to get a bigger paycheck so he has to go for it one way or another.

He'll either receive it from Barca or another team. So that's your options.

 

[khaled_a_d]

I don't know the numbers, and if he severely underpaid I might accept improving his salary but won't give him extra year.
Rakitic is the kind of player that coaches likes for sure. But age is such problem within the team that we have to deal with. Currently out of the 13 outfield players starting most games (Pique/Alba/Busquets/Rakitic/Vidal/Messi/Suarez/Roberto/Semedo/Lenglet/Arthur/Coutinho/Dembele) 7 players born between Jan 1987 and March 1989 so in exactly 7 weeks we have 7 players who 30-32 years old. That is just too much and not right and will be difficult to replace at one time.
I don't want him beyond 2020 tbh. Next summer will be last time to cash on him, but on the other hand how much we are getting for him anyway? we got Vidal last season for 18M, I think we look at probably same range, may be slightly more.
For me I am not sure such money is worth altering the squad for. Especially with FDJ not being a sure thing at least for his 1st season.
I would probably keep him another year and let him go in 2020 even for free. Unless we are getting a strong offer or had agreed to bring Rabiot or another midfielder to the team

 

[Cule4life]

Short answer: No

Long answer:

 

[te amo barca]

He will be 31 in March. By the time his contract expires he will be 33. We should not renew him at all costs. Actually should sell him this summer given that we've bought FdJ and that will be the last mercato Rakitic could be sold for decent money.

 

[Raketa10]

No, he should be sold next summer. If he doesn't want to go he can stay for another season until we fully incorporate FDJ and that's it. There is no way in hell we should give him a raise or extend his contract.

 

[FCBfan22]

Hell naw. He should be sold this summer. If he doesn't want to go, he can stay another 1-2 years as a squad player on lesser wages as a squad player, but that's about it.

 

[Joan]

I'm genuinely against selling Rakitić in the summer. As I don't believe we'd receive enough and it's always nice to have a reliable option in the squad. Doesn't mean he should be gifted a 5 or so years contract.

 

[Givenchy]

I'm in 2 minds tbh

hes one of the seniors, has alot of experience and i like the guy. for all the jokes and complaining about him and EV, Raki can still put a shift in if hes given rest but at the same time, with De jong coming in i really dont see any room for him as a starting midfielder and i doubt he'll accept a squad/bench role. not sure how much his wages are but i don't think you can really justify giving him bigger wages which he no doubt wants. preferably i'd like Vidal to stay on another season as he offers something totally different to any midfielder we have right now

 

[xXKonan]

There's no reason for us to renew him as he already got one back in 2017 and he would be 33 when his deal ends.

With us investing a lot of money in FDJ and with Arthur showing how good he is, we are in a pretty comfortable spot right now.

 

[serghei]

If we get a 40m+ offer we should sell.

 

[Enjoy your life]

last poll i was the only one who voted roberto.........

now one more person voted for raki with me.

i see a improvement in this forum.

it will all change soon......