Barcelona has decided to sign a new contract with Ivan Rakitić, but the signing depends on the financial balance of the Catalonia team, as his raise will have to fit into financial fair-play limits
The NBA has the salary cap and although called differently in football, the principle is similar. The current contract for Rakitić shows he earns 4.5 million Euro per year, so his raise may mean someone will leave the locker room, Jutarnji List wrote on July 29, 2016.
Rakitić is interested in Barcelona only, his position was never in doubt, headlines on his transfer to Juventus were just speculations. Further speculations include a version of the attack on Ugljan island as fabricated. Since police have not come up with facts, imagination runs wild.
Within his team he has new competition in the form of Portuguese Andre Gomes. Barcelona failed to clinch the European champion title and is working hard to fix that. The biggest stars have remained, the battle to stay in the starting 11 will be more fierce, but as Rakitić is not only a great player on the field but also a generator of a great atmosphere in the locker room, Luis Enrique has not questioned his status. This has to be validated and confirmed by Rakitić.
Rakitić is still on vacation and is due to rejoin the team on August 1. As most of the team started training on July 25, he meant to do the same, calling coach Enrique and stating he wanted to start right off to get a better start in the season, but was told there is no need and allowed to extend his vacation time.
