By Mark Finlay
Manchester United and Manchester City have both set their sights on signing Barcelona Croatian international midfielder Ivan Rakitic.
Rakitic joined the Catalan giants from Sevilla during the summer for £14 million, but has not made an impression on Barca trainer Luis Enrique who prefers to play veterans like Xabi rather than the 26-year-old Rakitic.
This along with the fans assertions that he does not want to fit in with the clubs philosophy is all pointing to a January departure with the Premiership assumed to be his preferred destination says the Daily Express.
United was actively pursuing Rakitic during the summer before he joined Barcelona , and with manager van Gaal upset over the news that Roma do not want to sell Kevin Strootman, the Dutchman has £20 million available for Rakitic.
It will not all be plain sailing for United however as Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini is on the lookout for a replacement for Frank Lampard and knows Rakitic well from his time spent managing in La Liga.
Watch the video below and you will see how the Croatian international can make a difference in a team.
