Sevilla Confirm Ivan Rakitic Has Re-Joined Club From Barcelona

Sevilla have confirmed the return of former star man Ivan Rakitic, six years after the Croatian midfielder traded Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan for Camp Nou and Barcelona.

Rakitic, who had won the Europa League with Sevilla in 2013/14 following a transfer from Schalke three years earlier, went on to win four Liga Liga titles, four Copa del Reys and the Champions League with Barcelona, including a treble in his first season.

Sevilla reached an agreement with Barcelona over the transfer earlier this week and have announced that Rakitic has signed a two-year contract back in Andalusia.

Now 32, Rakitic was made Sevilla captain for his final season at the club during his first spell and finished that 2013/14 campaign with 15 goals and 18 assists to his name in all competitions. It was form that prompted Barcelona to pay around €20m for him that summer.

Rakitic won the Europa League and Champions League in consecutive seasons in 2013/14 and 2014/15 respectively either side of his move to Catalonia.

The midfielder scored Barcelona’s first goal just four minutes into the final of the latter, giving his team the lead against Juventus that eventually became a comfortable 3-1 victory.

Despite all his success as a Barça player, Rakitic’s future at Camp had looked uncertain for over a year. He was regularly linked with a move away last summer as part of the club’s ultimately failed attempts to organise a player-exchange deal with Paris Saint-Germain to re-sign Neymar.

Rakitic was thought to be keen not to move on at that time, although his playing time then dropped significantly during the 2019/20 campaign. He started only 16 La Liga games – 22 in all competitions – compared to 29 in the league the previous season, and 48 in all competitions.

With Barcelona keen on a squad overhaul this summer, Rakitic’s departure was almost inevitable when he wasn’t among the eight players named by president Josep Maria Bartomeu as ‘non-transferable’.

For more from Jamie Spencer, follow him on Twitter and Facebook!