Inter Renew Ivan Rakitic Interest as Antonio Conte ‘Expresses Desire’ to Sign Barcelona Star

The closure of the English transfer window may have killed the rumours linking Ivan Rakitic with a Premier League switch, but his future is still far from certain, as reports in Spain cite renewed interest from Inter in the Barcelona man. 

The 31-year-old has been touted for an exit all summer, with the arrival of Frenkie de Jong rumoured to have squeezed him out of the first team picture at Camp Nou, with Inter one of the sides linked earlier in the window before interest seemingly died down. 

He has expressed a desire to stay and fight for his place, seemingly content to stay out the duration of his contract which expires in 2021, but that hasn’t stopped talk of ?Barça offering him up as a makeweight in a deal to secure the return of Neymar from PSG. 

?Sport say that this is still the plan, with the Catalan giants only prepared to sanction the Croatian’s departure if it facilitates the signing of the PSG star, but note that Inter have revived their interest in recent days and feel like a deal can be struck.

Antonio Conte is the driving force of the prospective move, having ‘expressed a desire’ to bring the midfielder to San Siro, with the feeling being that the wage boost and first team football on offer may be enough to lure him to Italy.

A fee of €50m is mentioned as a sticking point for ?Inter, who would prefer to get a deal done for cheaper if possible after spending exorbitantly on the likes of ?Romelu Lukaku and Valentino Lazaro already. 

As the window ticks down and the possibility of Rakitic moving elsewhere increases, however, their hand may be forced if they are to stand any chance of landing the man who now looks like their main target. 

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