Ivan Rakitic echoes fellow teammate Gerard Pique as he also backs the manager, Ernesto Valverde to continue at Barcelona. The Croatian faces the press after a hard-fought 2-1 win at Getafe and starts with praising the boss.
Marca quote Rakitic as saying: "The coach’s future is a question for him and the club, but as players we are all very happy with him. The job he and his coaching staff are doing is really good and I believe he is most likely to stay here and continue (beyond the summer). As players we will all work hard and what they decide to do will be their decision, but they will come to the conclusion which is best."
The midfield maestro also gives his verdict on the positive result of the game itself: "We had to work hard for this win at Getafe because this is a very complicated league, every team is difficult and there are many challenges to come. This is one of the most difficult games of the season, they are very compact and it was a real battle."
Ernesto Valverde's recent claims suggest that the decision regarding his contract extension will be made at the end of the current campaign: “We will decide whether or not I will continue depending on how the season goes,” he said on Saturday.
Interestingly, it is believed that the Barca board want him to make up his mind this winter already. The club's officials understand that they will need time to find a new coach if Valverde refuses to sign a one-year extension. Valverde's deal with Barcelona runs out in summer 2019 but the coach has an option of prolonging it for one more year without having to sign a new deal.
