Manchester City ready to pay £109.5million buy-out clause to land risky transfer

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Manchester City are reportedly ready to pay big for the transfer of Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic, despite one or two risks associated with the deal.

Don Balon claim both City and Paris Saint-Germain are big fans of the in-form Croatia international, and that both sides are not put off paying his mammoth £109.5million release clause at the Nou Camp.

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Rakitic has been a hugely influential performer for Barcelona down the years, winning the treble with them in 2014/15 and adding two further La Liga title victories since then.

The classy ball-playing midfielder also shone for his country in the summer as they reached their first ever World Cup final.

Still, Rakitic is 30, will turn 31 later this season, and has never played in the Premier League before.

Ivan Rakitic wanted by Manchester City

With those factors in mind, City forking out over £100m for him seems very risky, as there’s rarely any guarantee that a big name in La Liga will be as successful in English football.

Many big names have joined English clubs from abroad and not looked the same, and though City can obviously afford it, this would be not far off double their current record transfer fee of £60m, paid for Riyad Mahrez this summer, according to BBC Sport.

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