Football

Rakitic: Decision to sell Neymar was very bad

Published

9 years ago

September 22, 2017

By Boluwatife Ezekiel Olaleye

Barcelona midfielder, Ivan Rakitic, has said it was a “bad decision” for the club to sanction the record-breaking €222million sale of Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.

The La Liga giants hardly had a choice, after Neymar made it clear he was ready to leave and PSG stumped up the cash to trigger his release clause.

Barca have already spent part of the money on the likes of Paulinho and Ousmane Dembele, but Rakitic concedes that the 25-year-old will be a big miss at Camp Nou.

ALSO SEE: Neymar and I are fine – Cavani

“For me personally, it was really hard, not only because he’s one of the biggest players; also, for me, he’s a big person.

“He was really important for our dressing room, and for me he’s one of the best guys I know in football.

“So for me it was really a bad decision because I liked to have him in my team,” Rakitic told the BBC World Service.