Barcelona, Juventus Set For Another Grand Midfield Swap Deal, Report Says

Barcelona is willing to swap midfield star Ivan Rakitic for Juventus’ youngster Rodrigo Bentancur in what could become another grand deal this summer, a new report said.

Juventus and Barcelona have already negotiated the swapping of midfielders Miralem Pjanic and Arthur Melo for the 2020/21 season. But after completing the lengthy deal for this pair, European sources revealed that Juve and Barca are in for another massive midfield swap deal.

The Catalans are now offering veteran attacking midfielder Rakitic in exchange for Juventus’ midfield star Bentancur, Italian soccer news website Calciomercato reported.

Following a dominant 2019/20 Serie A season, Juventus has already set its sights on bolstering its squad this summer, the report noted.

Cristiano Ronaldo has proven that he is aging like a fine wine, and the five-time Ballon d’Or winner chose to prolong his stay with the Old Lady. However, Juve seems to be plotting a couple of transfer moves in the near future as they look to cash-in on the Rakitic-Bentancur potential deal.

Should the swap deal come to fruition, Juventus is expected to receive around €30 million ($35.3 million) from Barcelona apart from signing the Croatian midfielder. Due to the fact that Rakitic is in the final year of his contract with Barca, the Catalan club is now eager to sell the former Sevilla star this summer rather than lose him on a free transfer, the report noted.

Looking closely at the deal, Juventus would have the advantage of acquiring additional signings using the funds from Bentancur's exit. However, Everything Barca suggested the 23-year-old would be a massive addition for Quique Setien next season as the youngster is also a versatile midfielder who can be fielded anywhere in his area in the pitch.

On top of that, Barcelona needs to infuse its squad with younger players. Seniors such as Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez may have proven they are still in tremendous form, but in reality, the squad is stacked with aging veterans.

This isn’t the first time Rakitic has been linked to a move away from Camp Nou. In recent months, the 32-year-old has been vocal about his desire to return to Sevilla.

In fact, Rakitic triggered speculations on social media after La Liga asked Twitter users to choose between “the Rakitic of Sevilla” and “the Rakitic of Barcelona.” To everybody’s surprise, the Barca star picked the Sevilla version of himself over the Barcelona one.