The Croatian midfielder turned down a move to Stamford Bridge when he was 16
Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic has revealed he turned down a move to Chelsea 11 years ago because he wanted to stay closer to home.
Rakitic was born in Switzerland and impressed Chelsea scouts when he made his way into Basel’s squad by scoring 11 goals in 34 games.
A decade later Rakitic is a key part of Barcelona’s treble winning team and his decision on how his career should progress looks to be justified.
Turning down Chelsea
Speaking to FourFourTwo about why he rejected Chelsea, the 27-year-old said: “I wanted to stay at home. I had a really special relationship with the president of Basel.
“It was much better for me to do pre-season with the first team there and then work my way gradually to the top.
“There was another guy in my situation, Jonas Elmer, who moved from Zurich to Chelsea at the age of 17.
“He ended up playing in the second division in Switzerland. Maybe that could have been me.”
Open to a Premier League move
Raktic moved to Schalke in 2007 and spent three years in Germany before applying his trade in Spain with Sevilla and then Barcelona.
However, the Croatian has not ruled out England as his next destination.
“A lot of my friends are playing in the Premier League. It’s a different style of football and I always enjoy playing in Europe against English teams.
“I like how every game is always intense and how everybody lives for football.
“You can have a game like Crystal Palace vs Stoke where both teams are strong, powerful, fully committed and the crowd are fully behind their team.”
“Maybe one day I can play in England, too.”
Written by Tom Sutton – @T0MSUTT0N
