Pep Guardiola eyeing €35m Barcelona star in January

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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is reportedly interested in signing Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic.

The Croatian international has been a key player for the Blaugrana since joining the club from Sevilla in 2014. So far, Rakitic has made 274 appearances for the Catalan club, scoring 34 goals and providing 37 assists.

SEE MORE: Pep Guardiola eyeing £50m-rated starlet to bolster Man City attack

This season, the 31-year-old has featured in six out of Barcelona’s ten matches, making just one start with Ernesto Valverde preferring a midfield trio of Arthur, Sergio Busquets and Frenkie de Jong.

Rakitic’s current contract expires in 2021 but the Blaugrana are keen on letting him go before then, according to Sport. A recent report from Diario Gol claims that Manchester City manager Guardiola is an admirer of the Croatian international and wants to make a move for him in January.

Ivan Rakitic is a rumoured transfer target for Manchester City

Rakitic is currently valued at €35million according to Transfermarkt and that seems a price City could easily afford. However, it might be difficult for the 31-year-old to find game time at the Etihad because of the amount of quality in Guardiola’s midfield.

That said, City would probably view Rakitic as an upgrade on someone like Ilkay Gundogan, who has not been too convincing of late as MCFC go through a bit of a wobble at the start of this season.

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