Ivan Rakitic: ‘There would have been room to fit Yamal into our Barcelona side’
Ivan Rakitic, the Croatian midfielder and key figure of Barcelona’s historic 2014/15 treble-winning team, has shared his thoughts on the legendary squad and highlighted the exceptional qualities of Barcelona’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal.
Rakitic, now 37, called the 2014-2016 period “our best years” and described the team under Luis Enrique as “as close to footballing perfection as you can get.” Despite the spotlight often falling on the iconic forward trio of Messi, Suarez, and Neymar, Rakitic stressed the crucial role he played in midfield alongside legends Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets, and Xavi.
Reflecting on today’s Barcelona squad, Rakitic admitted it would be difficult to fit anyone into such a stellar side but made an exception for the promising 17-year-old Yamal.
“The fact is it’s very difficult to bring somebody into that team, not just from Barcelona but from everywhere,” Rakitic said. “But good players are always welcome, they can always help, and I was asked whether there would be room for Lamine (Yamal). If you play with Leo (Messi), there’s no room for anybody. But we would’ve found a way of fitting Lamine in. Everyone would have, that’s very obvious. He’s an incredible player.”
Rakitic went further to praise Yamal as a potential Ballon d’Or winner despite the youngster missing out on the Champions League final.
“We’re talking about a 17-year-old youngster – this tells us that it’s not a matter of age. You are either there or you are not,” Rakitic explained. “If he’d reached the Champions League final, we wouldn’t have had no doubts that he would win the award this year. It’s an individual award but titles also count. But even without the Champions League final, especially how he’s playing in the final months, I think he’s a possible winner out of two or three candidates. For me personally, he’s the favourite.”
