?Barcelona are reportedly looking to offload both Ivan Rakitic and Carles Aleñá in the January transfer window as the midfield pair are deemed surplus to requirements by the Catalan club.
It is thought that both players would prefer to stay and fight for their place in the side. However, if the opportunity arises to gain more playing time elsewhere, the pair will not stand in the way of a transfer.
According to ?Mundo Deportivo, the Catalan giants are happy to sanction moves for the duo in order for them to gain more minutes.
It is believed that Rakitic has two potential suitors in Italy, coming in the form of Serie A powerhouses ?Juventus and ?Internazionale.
The Croat has found first-team opportunities hard to come by this season, after being a regular starter in the first two years of Valverde’s reign, starting just one of the opening seven games in the 19/20 season – the infamous 2-0 defeat at the hands of Granada.
The introduction of 22-year-old Frenkie de Jong has seen Rakitic fall out of favour and limited the 31-year-old to the bench. Whilst the World Cup finalist has attracted interest in Italy, ?there is also supposed interest from within La Liga.
The case of Aleñá is a bit more perplexing. The 21-year-old was a prospect for Valverde in the 2018/19 season, making 17 appearances in La Liga.
However the Spain Under-21 international has had limited game time thus far in the 2019/20 campaign, playing a meagre 45 minutes in the opening day defeat to Athletic Club and since then has only featured in the squad twice.
Barcelona blocked a move to Real Betis this summer, with Aleñá being told he was an important figure in Valverde’s plans. Although with six other central midfielders at the club (Sergio Busquets, de Jong, Arthur, Sergi Roberto, Arturo Vidal and Rakitic) it seems as though this is not the case.
It remains to be seen whether the midfield duo will feature again for Barcelona, who travel to the Ipurua Municipal Stadium to face Eibar in the league on Saturday before their Champions League clash away to Slavia Prague four days later.
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