Rakitic out of contract! Croatian veteran heads to Saudi Arabia, details remain to finalise transfer

Ivan Rakitic becomes another player heading from the European continent to Saudi Arabia. The former Sevilla player has opted out of his contract to join Al-Shabab. The Croatian veteran has already passed his medical, and all that remains is the signing of his contract and other documents.

While some are calling for a move away from Saudi Arabia, Croatian veteran Ivan Rakitic, on the other hand, is heading to the Saudi Professional League. The 35-year-old midfielder has recently attracted interest from Al-Shabab.

The player himself has agreed to the transfer all along. The reason is quite simple. Rakitic has only been a substitute since Quique Sanchez Flores took over the reins of Sevilla’ s A-team.

This is mainly why he signed a contract release agreement on Tuesday morning, leaving Sevilla for the second time in his career. He had a contract with the Andalusian outfit until the end of June this year.

According to recent reports, the transfer was already supposed to happen immediately, in this winter transfer window. Getting out of the contract is therefore the logical outcome of the whole situation.

“We have agreed with Saudi Pro League club Al-Shabab on the transfer of Ivan Rakitic, who will end his second contract with us,” reads an official statement on Sevilla’s club website. Rakitic has already passed his medical, so the last few details are missing to finalize the transfer.

Rakitic to Saudi Arabia

The native of Möhlin will therefore still look to Saudi Arabia at the end of his active football career. In any case, the Croatian will not be the only player to move from La Liga to Saudi Arabia. Specifically, Al-Shabab already lured Atlético Madrid’s Yannick Carrasco to their side last year.

Rakitic spent the best period of his career at Barcelona, where he won the league four times, the domestic cup and, most notably, the Champions League in 2015.

Rakitic played 310 competitive games for the Catalan big club, scoring 35 goals and adding 42 assists. He also recorded similar statistics at Sevilla, where, including his second engagement after returning from Barcelona, he registered 51 goals and 63 assists in 323 games.

Source: FC Sevilla, ESPN, X – Fabrizio Romano