Ivan Rakitic: ‘Everyone wanted Jose Antonio Reyes as a teammate’

Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has paid tribute to former Sevilla star Jose Antonio Reyes: “He was a teammate who everyone wanted.”

The two player alongside each other at the Andalusian club for two-and-a-half years before the Croatian was transferred to the Camp Nou in the summer of 2014.

“This is a really sad day for us all, I am speechless,” Rakitic told reporters as cited by ABC.

“He is one of the few who conveyed his joy from outside the pitch to the pitch, he was a teammate who everyone wanted.

“From the first day when he returned to Sevilla, it was as if he had returned in command, everyone wanted him: teammates, the club, the fans.

“This is not just a former teammate who has left us, but someone who was part of my family.

“You do not get a chance to meet people like Jose Antonio that often and we connected from the first day that we met…also with his wife and family, I still cannot believe it.

“We were only just talking about a reunion a few days ago, to see each other again, and right now I do not know what to say.

“I want to support his family, his parents and his wife and everybody who loved him, I will be there to support them.”

Tags Ivan Rakitic Jose Antonio Reyes
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