Inter to push hard for Rakitic

Inter Milan are ready to push really hard in order to sign Ivan Rakitić from Barcelona this month, according to Sport.

The Nerazzurri have expressed their interest in the Croatian midfielder before and he has hinted that he might be open to a move, but Barcelona, not wanting to sell, have set a high asking price of at least €50 million. Having recently spent €80 million to sign striker Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United, Inter may find that difficult to afford at the moment.

The Serie A side are hoping that the abundance of young, talented central midfielders in Ernesto Valverde’s squad, combined with a chance to earn more money in Italy, would be a significant nudge for Rakitić to try and work a way out from Barcelona. Meanwhile, the Catalan club would only be willing to let him go to Paris Saint-Germain in some kind of a swap deal involving Neymar’s potential return to the Camp Nou.

However, reports elsewhere suggest that Real Madrid are now favorites for the Brazilian, that PSG aren’t interested in a swap, and that they are refusing to do any kind of a deal with Barcelona at the moment.