Manchester United have reportedly been dealt a potential blow to their rumoured transfer pursuit of Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic.
The Croatia international has been linked with the Red Devils by Sport in recent times, but it may now be that any move is going to be delayed for some time.
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According to Don Balon, Rakitic is not keen on leaving Barcelona in the middle of the season and uprooting his family at an inconvenient time.
It remains to be seen, however, how much control Rakitic has over the situation as he’s become less of a regular in Ernesto Valverde’s side this season.
The 31-year-old may be shifted out by Barca if they choose to free up space on their wage bill or raise funds for other signings this winter.
Man Utd will surely hope there’s still some chance of luring Rakitic to Old Trafford as they could badly do with a midfielder of his type coming in as soon as possible.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has had to rely on the likes of Scott McTominay and Fred this season, the latter of which has been unimpressive for some time now, while Nemanja Matic has fallen out of favour and Ander Herrera left in the summer without being adequately replaced.