Reports: Barcelona ready to exchange out-of-favour star for Juventus duo

The latest word around the rumour mill is that La Liga giants Barcelona are ready to offload Ivan Rakitic in exchange for the Juventus duo of Daniele Rugani and Merih Demiral, during the upcoming January transfer window.

This is according to Calciomercato, who reports that Juventus are interested in Rakitic thanks to his experience and proven quality. The Italian newspaper further adds that the Bianconeri will try to add to Barcelona’s interest in the potential sale of their star midfielder, by adding Rugani and Demiral as part of their player-plus-cash offer.

It is believed that Barcelona will accept the offer, as the Catalans themselves are on the hunt for alternative options in defence. Right now, Gerard Pique and Clement Lenglet are the preferred first-choice options for manager Ernesto Valverde at the heart of Barcelona’s defence – but that is likely to change within the next few seasons as Pique is approaching his retirement and Lenglet is yet to deliver a consistent set of good performances for the club.

Calciomercato further adds that the La Liga defending champions are also interested in Juventus’ Federico Bernardeschi, but no official move has been made by them to approach him yet.

Meanwhile, earlier last week, Rakitic himself had announced that he is not looking to leave the Blaugrana anytime soon.

“Lots of things have happened in the last few months,” Rakitic said, before adding:

“But I want to give my all and if I can play here then I’ve always said that there’s no better place than Barcelona to keep winning trophies, it’s the perfect place for me.”

As a result, it remains unclear as to whether he will accept Juventus’ offer if they approach him in January.