Rakitic wishes Neymar stayed in Barcelona

CAIRO – 13 January 2018: Despite Barcelona’s success after the departure of their Brazilian star Neymar Jr Da Silva to PSG last summer, Ivan Rakitic would have preferred if Neymar stayed at the club.

“I would prefer that Ney was here with us. Apart from being a great player, he is a friend and I am very fond of him. It would seem better to be able to count on him, but if he is not there, we join forces to be even better," Rakitic told Marca on Saturday.

Barcelona had a successful season under their new manager Ernesto Valverde, leading the Spanish League table with nine points. Also, Barca is the only team in the big European Leagues without a loss in all competitions.

Rakitic spoke about the tactical changes in the team after Neymar’s departure, saying, “If you have an individual player more or less on the field, it changes the team. The important thing is that we have understood Valverde quickly and the coach's ideas were very clear. He wants us to be very close together, with advanced lines, but always pressing together."

Neymar left Barcelona last summer to join PSG in France after they paid his release clause of €222 million ($271 million).