Rakitic set to renew with Barca amid City interest

The Croatian midfielder has been linked with a move to the Premier League and a link-up with Pep Guardiola, but could now extend his Camp Nou deal.

Barcelona are confident Ivan Rakitic will sign a new contract to remain at the Catalan club, despite interest from Manchester City in the Croatian midfielder.

Rakitic, whose current deal runs until 2019, was left out of back-to-back La Liga games by Luis Enrique against Osasuna and Espanyol in December and has had to settle for a reduced role over the past few weeks.

Reports of a rift with the Barca boss subsequently surfaced, and it was even claimed in Croatia that the 28-year-old could leave the Blaugrana to join Manchester City in the current transfer window this month.

However, sources in Barcelona say there is no bid from City, even though their manager Pep Guardiola is an admirer of Rakitic and would be interested in signing the former Sevilla man at some stage.