Barcelona star Ivan Rakitic’s agent has quashed all the rumours linking his client to Manchester United.
The Croatia international has been linked with the Red Devils for quite some time as he is yet to pen down a deal to extend his stay at the Nou Camp. However, the midfielder still has three years left on his current contract and negotiations are going on between the two parties to sign a new deal.
Rakitic moved to the Catalan giants from Sevilla in 2014 to replace Xavi Hernandez and has done a stellar job so far. He has won two La Liga titles and a Champions League with the club.
The Daily Star has reported that United boss Mourinho values the Barca playmaker at around £35million and had identified him as a long-term replacement for Michael Carrick but Rakitic’s agent, Arturo Canales has said that the player has no intention of joining the English outfit as he is ‘very happy’ with the Spanish giants.
Canales said: “Ivan is very happy at FC Barcelona, where he has been tremendously successful and has a contract with the club until 2019.”
However, Canales did not rule out a possible move to England in future, by saying:“Ivan loves football and is only 28 years old. Having played in Switzerland, Germany and Spain, who knows if one day he’ll be ready to have an experience in England, but for now he’s a FC Barcelona player.”
With Mourinho desperate to turn things around at Old Trafford, Canales’ claims will be a huge blow to his plans. It seems he will have to stick with veteran midfielder Carrick for the time being. The 35-year old has performed well in recent weeks and might just do the job for the club.
Carrick’s contract with the Red Devils expires after this season but he has said that he might stay with the club for longer if everything goes well.
He said: “You never know. This is such a great club with great players that you can’t take it for granted.
“If I feel that I can still do it (at this level) and the manager thinks I can still do it then there are a lot of things to come into the equation, so I’m not going to be making any rash judgements just yet.”