Inside Ivan Rakitic's decision to snub PSG and stay at Barcelona

Barcelona have had a good transfer window. They have moved well to add strength and depth to the squad and have sold players for good fees. It's not easy to move players on that, despite playing for Barça, have not played regularly and earn huge salaries. 

In the middle of August, with work almost done, they were contacted by a middleman to ask about Ivan Rakitic. He was asking in the name of Paris Saint-Germain. Alarm bells went off, but the club remained cautious, studying all possible scenarios and not ruling out anything. If the offer was high, as it was going to be, the pressure would be passed on to the player, who would have to make a decision. And so began a period of 15 days, in which there were many conversations and the danger of Rakitic leaving was more than real. Things were advanced. 

PSG made it clear from the start they would not pay Rakitic's 125 million euro release clause because of his age. But they said they would pay a good price. In addition, they communicated that they would speak with the player to see if an agreement between all parties was possible. Barça had knowledge of these movements and were waiting to see what happened. If Rakitic reached and agreement and decided to go, the club would take another look at the situation. 

Rakitic's people listened to what PSG had to say. And the initial offer was for 8 million euros a season, plus bonuses. The final offer wasn't much more but was double what the midfielder earns at Camp Nou. An agreement was never reached, though. The French club have various players earning more than that and there was room for them to offer more. 

At the end of last week, Rakitic's people spoke with Barça to inform them of PSG's offer and to reveal that the Croatian's intention was to remain in Catalonia. They also asked for some understanding because he was going to reject a huge offer while his current terms don't place him in the top two tiers of Ernesto Valverde's squad in terms of earnings. At that point, Barça said 'no' to a renewal in a move which the player could have interpreted as a desire to negotiate his exit. 

Inside the club, there were some who were advocates for doing a deal which would have brought in almost 100 million euros. The deal, financially, was important for the club's present and future. It could have opened many avenues. In addition, Barça are clear that they are not going to raise salaries because of external offers, a tactic used by PSG to eat away at their direct rivals. 

Barça coach Valverde has been the first to push for players to leave this summer. He gave the green light to various loans and permanent deals. But Rakitic's case was different. Valverde had already lost Andres Iniesta and Paulinho and he didn't want to lose the Croatian -- not at any price. He spoke with him and made it clear he didn't want him to go. And he convinced him of his importance in the team. Rakitic took the decision to stay and on Friday killed contact with PSG. On Saturday, he said in public that he will stay. Now we will have to see if the club will reward him...