Ivan Rakitic has taken a diplomatic approach to club and country loyalties by backing fellow Croatian Luka Modric to win any individual award that his Barcelona team-mate, Lionel Messi, cannot.
Messi has not been included in the final three nominees for the 2018 Best FIFA Men's Player award, and Rakitic believes, as a result, it should go to Modric, who played a key role in Croatia's run to the 2018 FIFA World Cup final, per Marca (h/t Goal's Dejan Kalinic):
"If there is an individual prize that Lionel Messi can't win, then there's no doubt that this season it should go to Luka Modric.