Seville star Ivan Rakitic has revealed that Cristiano Ronaldo had urged him to join Juventus. However, the Croatian international joined Spanish giants then as Barcelona’s €50 million asking prices scuttled the deal.
Rakitic described the incident when he spoke to 24sata about the possible path his career could have taken towards Turin. “In the summer of 2019, Cristiano called me personally to suggest I go to Juve,” said the Croatia international.
“He told me that the club wanted me too, but the transfer didn’t go through. Barcelona was asking for €50m and it was too much,” added Ivan. Speaking about the Portuguese star Rakitic said, “Ronaldo is one of the greatest of all time. You really enjoy watching him and what he’s doing at Juventus.”
The 33 years old midfielder played at Barcelona between 2014 to 2020 before returning to Sevilla, a club which he had previously joined in 2011. At Barcelona, Rakitic has made 200 appearances and scored 25 goals before joining Sevilla for €1.5 million in September 2020. Until now he has scored 4 goals in 37 appearances at Sevilla since joining the club again in 2020. Now aged 33, Rakitic has 106 senior caps for Croatia under his belt, scoring 15 goals. Now Rakitic has 106 senior caps for Croatia under his belt, scoring 15 goals.
After playing with Lionel Messi, Rakitic was eager to play with another of the names who dominated the football landscape and the Ballon d’Or race over the last decade, having clashed with CR7 on numerous occasions during El Clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona.
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