The latest Ivan Rakitic Manchester United transfer update is not the most encouraging one for Red Devils fans hoping to sign the Barcelona midfielder.
Although a lot can still happen between now and the summer, Spanish source Marca claims Rakitic’s preference is to remain in La Liga with Atletico Madrid.
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The Croatia international has also been linked with Man Utd in recent times, and makes sense as an ideal addition for the club in a problem position.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could do with Rakitic as an upgrade on the likes of Nemanja Matic and Andreas Pereira, and it will be interesting to see if he could be persuaded to change his mind in the coming months.
United have also been linked with big names like James Maddison, Jack Grealish and Sergej Milinkovic-Savic in that area of the pitch, while Bruno Fernandes was also snapped up in January.
That could mean Rakitic is no longer a top priority anyway, which might give Atletico the edge as they look to strengthen this summer.
MUFC fans will no doubt be keeping an eye on this saga, however, as it was recently claimed Rakitic could leave for as little as £29million at the end of this season, potentially making him one of the bargains of the summer.