A report from Mundo Deportivo claims Serie A champions Juventus approached Barcelona for Ivan Rakitic and put the option of Federico Bernadeschi on the table.
Mundo Deportivo notes that the suggestion came with only two weeks remaining in the transfer window and was initiated by Juve through sporting director Fabio Paratici.
Paratici is said to have offered Barca their pick of one of a number of players, with his counterpart Eric Abidal only interested in 25-year-old Bernadeschi. For Juve to have accepted the forward in exchange for Rakitic, they would have demanded a €23m fee too, it’s reported.
Juve’s financial requests eventually put paid to the transfer as while Barca accepted that they would be required to pay a fee for Bernadeschi, they felt the number floated was too high. Rakitic, however, was open to the move after seeing his expected playing time at Barca cut this season.
It’s added that reports in Italy claim Juve will return for Rakitic in January.
