Juventus in pole position to land Barcelona star to bolster Sarri’s midfield

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Juventus are reportedly leading the race to sign Ivan Rakitic as he continues to be linked with an exit from Barcelona next year.

The Bianconeri appear to be well set in that department given the summer arrivals of Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey.

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That in turn has led to the likes of Emre Can failing to even get into their Champions League squad, and with Rabiot struggling for regular playing time, the midfield doesn’t appear to be a priority for the reigning Serie A champions.

Despite that, Calciomercato, via the paper edition of Marca, suggest that the Turin giants are in pole position to sign Rakitic, as they look to fend off competition from Manchester United.

It remains to be seen if it ultimately leads to an agreement between the clubs and with the player, as a move still seems to be some way off at this stage, but nonetheless, Juventus will seemingly feel confident about their chances of landing the Croatian international.

It’s been a bizarre season thus far for the 31-year-old, as given he has made over 50 appearances in each campaign he has been with Barcelona to date since joining them from Sevilla in 2014, he has found his place in the side under threat this season.

Rakitic has been limited to just six appearances across all competitions so far with the majority of those coming off the bench, and so it appears as though he has fallen out of favour with coach Ernesto Valverde and has slipped down the pecking order at the Nou Camp.

With that in mind, a switch elsewhere would now seemingly be the smart move for him, but time will tell if it’s Juventus who ultimately land his signature next year as they’ll surely need to trim their midfield first before adding another signing.

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