Iconic Barcelona and Sevilla midfielder announces retirement at 37 | OneFootball

Former Sevilla and Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has announced his retirement at the age of 37, after a long and illustrious career, primarily in Spanish football. Rakitic had returned to Croatia to end his career with Hajduk Split.

Coming through the academy system at FC Basle, he would move to Schalke after just two years in the first team for €5m, where he would become an essential part of the side in Gelsenkirchen. When he signed for Sevilla for €2.5m in 2011, he immediately became one of their star players too. Earning a move to Barcelona in 2014 for €18m, Rakitic was part of an historic treble-winning side under Luis Enrique, and would spend six years at Camp Nou before returning to Sevilla in 2020. Another 3.5 seasons and a Europa League later, Rakitic finished out his career at Al-Shabab first and then with Hajduk.

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Rakitic’s trophy haul

Few can boast the list of honours professed by Rakitic’s medal collection, peaking with the 2015 Champions League title. With Barcelona, Rakitic won La Liga on four occasions, the Club World Cup, four Copas del Rey, two Spanish Supercups, while he led Sevilla to two Europa League titles nine years apart. Lifting the German Cup and the Swiss Cup, his final two destinations are the only clubs he did not win anything at, with a total trophy haul of 17.

A key cog in Croatia’s golden generation

Alongside Luka Modric, Rakitic was the image of a resilient Croatian golden generation, that made it to the 2018 World Cup final. He scored 15 goals in his 106 appearances, making him the joint-sixth most capped player in Croatian history. In 2015, he would also win Croatian player of the year.

A hero at Sevilla, a necessity at Barcelona

At Sevilla, Rakitic is regarded as one of the best players in the history of the club, captaining them in his first spell, and becoming a vice-captain in his second. Earlier on his career, he would play behind the forward, with jazz-like timing and superb control to open up defences.

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Arriving at Barcelona, he pulled off the improbable feat of replacing Xavi Hernandez rather seamlessly. Rakitic was an essential for Barcelona in the first four years of his Barcelona career, balancing out a superb right side behind Lionel Messi, and providing an steely edge to a midfield with Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta.

In total, he made 887 club appearances, finishing just seven shy of a 1,000 including his Croatia appearances. Rakitic played a number of different roles, but still managed 125 goals and 141 assists from all over the pitch – a charateristic of his playing style.