Ivan Rakitic on Barcelona Future Amid Juventus Links: 'I Need to Play'

Ivan Rakitic has said he will need to consider his future at Barcelona if he is not granted more playing time soon despite there being "no better place to play."

After five seasons as a first-team regular at the Camp Nou, the Croatian has found himself out of favour as Arthur and summer signing Frenkie De Jong have been preferred in midfield by manager Ernesto Valverde.

After rumours of an exit in the summer, Rakitic has started only one of Barca's eight La Liga games this term and played only 188 minutes in all competitions.

Speaking to Croatian outlet 24sata (h/t Sport), he said Cristiano Ronaldo called him in the summer to tempt him to Juventus, and Rakitic has explained he may have to look at options elsewhere if his situation doesn't change:

"I don't know what will come now. It's tough because I want to play and not just be part of the team. I will do everything possible to change my situation. I have two years left on my deal and there's no better place to play than Barcelona, the best club in the world, but I need to play and not just enjoy walks around the city and the beach.

"I spoke with people at the club everyone knew I had other options. I want to fight so that the team see me ready to deliver on the pitch. I want to thank the fans for the affection they showed me this weekend, but if nothing changed, we will have to sit down and talk about my situation again."

Rakitic is 31, but he has been consistently excellent for Barca since he joined them from Sevilla in 2014.

There are a number of top clubs in European football who would benefit hugely from Rakitic in their squad, yet Barca can afford to leave him on the bench.

One of those clubs is Manchester United, who are woefully short in midfield and have been linked with the Croatia international in the past:

Juve, on the other hand, arguably do not need any more players in the centre of midfield given they already have Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey, Miralem Pjanic, Sami Khedira, Blaise Matuidi, Rodrigo Bentancur and Emre Can in their squad. 

There is little doubt, after Rakitic's latest comments, that if he continues to warm the bench up to Christmas, he will be linked to numerous clubs come the January transfer window.

It was recently reported by Moises Llorens and Sam Marsden of ESPN FC that Barcelona are willing to let him go because they need to raise €124 million (£111.2 million) in player sales to balance their books.

If that is the case, a Rakitic exit in January could be beneficial for all parties given whichever club he joins should benefit from the addition of a La Liga, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, Copa del Rey and FIFA Club World Cup winner.