Rakitic: I was never close friends with Messi or Suarez at Barca

Ivan Rakitic has admitted he was never close friends with Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez during his time at Camp Nou.

The Croatia playmaker brought his six-year spell in Catalonia to an end earlier in the transfer window, rejoining former club Sevilla in a cut-price deal.

There had been reports that Rakitic had not gotten on well with Barca’s star pair but, while he acknowledges they weren’t close, he says he had nothing but respect for them.

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"I've said my side,” Rakitic told El Desmarque. “My relationship with them was never one of close friends.