Ivan Rakitic Seville bound!
It has been reported that La Liga side Seville have agreed to contractual terms with Croatian international Ivan Rakitic and have even made an official offer to Bundesliga side Schalke for the versatile midfielder.
It has been indicated that Seville representatives had been in negotiations with the Croatian recently and after reaching a final agreement with player, have launched an official bid that is rumoured to be around 2 to 3 million euros.
The 22-year-old Croatian has been linked with many clubs throughout the 2011 January transfer window as his contract was set to expire by the end of the season.
Schalke are still reluctant to let go of their prized asset but it is understood that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ivan-Rakitic-c17333 had already expressed his desire of leaving for Pastures New when his contract expired so the German side would want to get something instead of letting him
go for a Bosman.
The money received from the transfer would be a big help for Schalke as it will ease some of the financial burden that the side is facing.
It is still to be seen if Schalke would let Rakitic go as the debt-burdened side will face La Liga side http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 in the UEFA Champions League round of 16 match in February.
Ivan Rakitic signed for Schalke in 2007 from Basel for 4 million euros and since then, the Croatian has been the heart and soul of the side.
Born in Switzerland to Croatian parents, Rakitic represented http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Switzerland-c3016 in Under-17 and infuriated the Swiss fans when he chose to play for his native country over Switzerland.
Previously, Serie A giants Juventus were also interested in signing the star midfielder but negotiations broke down pretty soon as the club refused to match the asking price that Schalke had put on the table.
Seville are currently in 8th place in the La Liga with just 29 points and have a poor goal difference of -2. Acquisition of Ivan Rakitic would be a major boost for the side as they look to turn things around in the second half of the current campaign.
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