Myesyats wrote:Barça’s operation to sign Neymar could cost up to Coutinho + Rakitic + €100m. [le parisen via el chiringuito]

They prolly value Coutinho at like 50mil which is fair if anything

That is a fair deal, although I feel your midfield is going to be very exposed especially given the fact that your forwards don't press. I would much rather give Arthur away than Rakitić given the fact that the Brazilian is not good at ball recovery at all.

Everyone is going to act shocked when he doesn't behave like an asshole around an actual football club.

Meanwhile me, a known logic user remembers his behaviour being good at Barca before and i don't have the memory of a goldfish.

danyjr wrote:

Myesyats wrote:Barça’s operation to sign Neymar could cost up to Coutinho + Rakitic + €100m. [le parisen via el chiringuito]

They prolly value Coutinho at like 50mil which is fair if anything

That is a fair deal, although I feel your midfield is going to be very exposed especially given the fact that your forwards don't press. I would much rather give Arthur away than Rakitić given the fact that the Brazilian is not good at ball recovery at all.

Our midfield is already painfully exposed to the point where I don't feel like it could be worse. We were dominated in midfield by various teams last season, from top to bottom. Rayo Vallecano comes to mind. Even the smallest ones.

Rakitic and Busquets being the main factor why we're shit as they don't have enough energy to play a high pace game.

Your midfield won't get dominated now that you have de Jong.

That's a huge step, true. But he will keep throwing his arms in anger when he's paired up with a donkey like Rakitic who can't play one-touch football to save his life.

Couldn't imagine a better window than Griezmann, De Jong and Neymar. Only a transfer of Eriksen could still excite me at this point.

Myesyats wrote:Couldn't imagine a better window than Griezmann, De Jong and Neymar. Only a transfer of Eriksen could still excite me at this point.

We don't need any of those guys.

Spoiler:

Getting rid of Coutinho and Rakitic and getting Neymar in return, wow what a deal ffs

...and 100M. Which I guess values Neymar at 200M. Which is what they got for him 2 years ago.

Seems fair to me.

Still gonna get spanked in the CL.

Casciavit wrote:Getting rid of Coutinho and Rakitic and getting Neymar in return, wow what a deal ffs

See now that's a good deal and that's why it's hard to believe that Barca board will pursue it.

Even with the added 100M that's still a good deal. Coutinho is the transfer flop of the decade and Rakitic is a bum.

Bartomeu deserves so much credit. De Jong, Griezmann, and Neymar all in one window.

Truly the BartoGOD.

Unbelievable that Rakitic getting the comments above wtf, hes declined yes, but compared with Busquets, I think he still has a lot more to offer at least for rotation, not to mention if he stays hes still capable to giving a lot to us in our game. Hes still much better than any of our other younger midfielders like Alena/Roberto, and Vidal since he gives us the control and passing those just cant offer. His work rate is still up there its just his aging, but if it were choice and a must up to me, I would let Busquets go instead:P Contradicting myself I know, but at least Rakitic is mobile and doesnt make a ton of mistake every game that Busquets is doing nowadays.

Anyway, I just dont think we should try one of our best performers over a number of years now all of a sudden like this. I doubt we would like either of them go though unless we absolutely have to. Coutinho going though would be better for everyone.

futbol_bill wrote:I’m actually hoping you get Neymar! I really don’t want his antics and crowd at Madrid, his behavior is much more suited to the Barca culture.


As far as the futbol player, as Doc said you will already be winning la liga (although I do think there will be some competition from Atleti) and going far in CL without him  (plus he usually fakes injury to go back to Brasil to party when the important CL games take place)

But my real reason is the prize at PSG is Mbappe and we wouldn’t get him with Neymar on team.

This post is 100% spot on, señor.

Myesyats, I think u gotta realize though just how good Rakitic is despite him aging, his ball retention, passing, distribution is to class, not to mention the odd goals and all round game is tops. Hes still much better than most if not all of our midfielders bar De Jong who should be the first choice with little doubt. Thats why hes been consistently starting for us and been key for Croatias WC run, etc. Apart from him we got Arthur and Vidal who would both be good enough, but Vidal's passing game leaves a lot to be desires and is not ideal for our style, hes good for steel but he just makes to many errors when passing. I dont understand the fans praises for the like of Alena/Puig, etc., they are just not good enough.

So ideally we keep Rakitic if we can otherwise we would be risking our midfield to be thin. I would much perfer say Rafinha going instead. Just imho.

I was of the opinion that Rakitic is a mediocre player even when he was at his best, carried by prime MSN lol

I have no idea how you can say his passing and ball distribution is class, all he does is backpass to the defense. He can't penetrate in between the lines at all

I think one of Busquets & Rakitic has to leave because they both have become a liability and Busi is not moving anywhere for now.....

Rakitić is probably the best midfielder in Barcelona

Anyone who actually watches Barcelona knows this is Rakitić in a nutshell:



Terrible vision, poor awaraness, poor under pressure, majority of passes to the back

Obviously lack of movement in the team doesn't help but he's not an A midfielder like De Jong, he's a B- on his best days.

I agree with @BarcaLearning here. The only downside to Rakitić is that he is turning 32 next year, so he is a player on decline. Otherwise he is more useful to this team than the likes of Busquets, Arthur and Vidal.

Busquets simply has become too error prone and is slower than Rakitić. 9 out of 10 times I'd choose Rakitić over Busquets because he just does more.

Arthur is very much a one trick pony who always gets bypassed when he is defending. He also does a lot of pass backs and less industrious than Rakitić.

Vidal is a beast but he is also on decline and his passing is not up to par with the rest of the team. I just can't see him starting for Barcelona on a tough CL night.

I don't understand @Myesyats beef with Rakitić to be honest, he has given so much to this team not to mention there are other players who are more qualified to be criticised in this Barcelona team.

Vibe wrote:Rakitić is probably the best midfielder in Barcelona

That's de Jong but Rakitic is the 2nd best. Arthur and Alena are jokers, Busquets has declined into a nothing player and Vidal just doesn't work.

My point is Rakitic is very dispensable, we could replace him with Parejo for peanuts next week and you wouldnt notice a difference in quality.

Looks like you will have to up the ante!

Report just out that Madrid are now offering Isco, Marcelo and Varane in exchange for Neymar!!

I doubt if it is true, but one can say same about some of Barca offers.

Note - the three can be available as they have Mendy, Militao and well Isco has already been made reducdant!

Your sources are trash Bill

man nothing like being off the grid for a few days and catching up with rumors on GL. Feel like I didn't miss a single shock or twist

btw agree with Hans that Barca is insane to want Neymar back, but I do think he will go back to being a schoolboy in Messi's shadow.

zigra wrote:

Vibe wrote:Rakitić is probably the best midfielder in Barcelona

That's de Jong but Rakitic is the 2nd best. Arthur and Alena are jokers, Busquets has declined into a nothing player and Vidal just doesn't work.

It depends a lot on the system. With Messi, we have played a 4-4-2 the last 2 years. That essentially means the RM is Messi's water carrier and a strict positional player. And within that context, Rakitic has been our best midfielder the last 2 years. he has a terrific engine, steps up in the big games and is a model professional.
Problem is Busquets who is garbage now. Would much rather prefer that we let him go instead of Rakitic in a trade. Coming back to Rakitic, if we play a 4-4-2, then Rakitic is still the best midfielder for the RM job. With Messi, no other formation we can play.

Assuming a Messi less Barca and we go back to playing 4-3-3, Rakitic shouldnt make our starting 11. There are others who would deserve to start ahead of him.

Any donkey with the slightest bit of positional discipline can do what Rakitic does at Barca.

Let's not kid ourselves. This isn't 2014 Rakitic leading counterattacks for Sevilla. This is 2019 Rakitic who covers Messi's back and passes the ball backwards whenever he has the chance.

Casciavit wrote:Any donkey with the slightest bit of positional discipline can do what Rakitic does at Barca.

Let's not kid ourselves. This isn't 2014 Rakitic leading counterattacks for Sevilla. This is 2019 Rakitic who covers Messi's back and passes the ball backwards whenever he has the chance.

He passing back is a very lazy observation and anyone watching him regularly will know that he creates more chance than anyone in our midfield. I agree Rakitic is not the fastest player in the world but what he lacks in pace makes up in other areas. Not to mention the guy is a thorough professional and a work horse.