Manchester United transfer target Ivan Rakitic wants to leave Barcelona…but Manchester City could get there first

Ivan Rakitic has seen his game time decrease at Barcelona (Picture: Getty)

Barcelona star Ivan Rakitic has decided that he wants to leave the club, according to reports.

The midfielder was completely left out of the squad for their last La Liga game, against Villarreal, and has decided that is the last straw regarding his time at the Nou Camp.
Manager Luis Enrique has only given the Croatia midfielder 71 minutes of action since he started in their 1-1 draw with El Clasico rivals Real Madrid, none of which have been in the league, and this has forced Rakitic to consider his future – according to Croatian outlet Jutarnji.
Manchester United have been linked with the former Sevilla ace in the past, but it is local rivals Manchester City who appear to be in pole position for him this month.
The Citizens have supposedly made a £43.5 million bid for the 28-year-old, and are looking to bring him to the Etihad before the current transfer window ends.
Rakitic has made 12 appearances in La Liga this season, scoring two goals and grabbing one assist, and could be the perfect addition to City’s faltering midfield.

The statistics suggest that Pep Guardiola has never faced a greater challenge than with Manchester City in the Premier League

The statistics suggest that Pep Guardiola has never faced a greater challenge than with Manchester City in the Premier League

"I hear a lot of times about the intensity of the Premier League, when none of you have been in La Liga or the Bundesliga to know how it is," Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola said after the 1-1 draw with Everton in October.

The former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager continually insists that City is not the hardest job he has ever had in football. But that draw with Everton was near the start of a run that has seen his side pick up just 12 points from their past nine games to leave them trailing leaders Chelsea by seven points.

Since Champions League progression was secured with a 1-1 draw at Borussia Monchengladbach last month, City have pieced together a scrappy 2-1 win at newly promoted Burnley, been beaten 3-1 at home by Chelsea and been embarrassed 4-2 at Leicester City, who had won just one of their nine previous matches.

Here are some statistics to suggest that Guardiola never had it as tough in his previous jobs, despite his insistence that his time in Spain and Germany was just as hard.

Worse start to a season

Guardiola has never had a worse start to a league campaign. City have taken 30 points from their first 15 games. His previous worst tally at this stage was in his final season at Barcelona, when he had 34 points. Never in his previous seven seasons of management had his side lost three games after just 15 games. On four occasions his team had lost once; three times they were still unbeaten.

Coming from behind

In five of his previous seven seasons of management, Guardiola's side were top of the table at this stage and were destined to remain there for the rest of the season. In 2009-10, Barcelona led after 15 matches but were briefly knocked off the top by Manuel Pellegrini's Real Madrid before going on to win the title. Two seasons later, Jose Mourinho's Madrid won La Liga -- the only time Guardiola has not finished top. He has never been lower than second at this stage.

Clean sheets

"After four minutes 2-0 against a team, it was complicated," Guardiola said after the humbling 4-2 defeat to Leicester on Saturday. His side have kept just two clean sheets this season, which is in stark contrast to his times at Barca and Bayern. His previous worst record for clean sheets from the first 15 games was in his first season at the Nou Camp, when Barca didn't concede in seven of their opening matches. In his second season at Bayern, they managed 12 clean sheets from their first 15 games; indeed they only conceded 18 goals that entire season -- one fewer than City have let in already this campaign.

Winning record

Guardiola's winning record in the Premier League stands at 53.33 percent, which is way down on his 76.32 percent average with Barcelona and 80.39 percent with Bayern. But it's not just in the Premier League where he is having problems. City's fourth-round exit from the EFL Cup was only the second time he had exited a cup competition before the semifinals as a manager -- the previous time was the defeat to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey round of 16 in 2010. In the Champions League, it was the first time a Guardiola side had not finished top of their group and just the second time they won only three of their six group games.

Discipline problems

Players being sent off and suspended has been a bigger problem at the Etihad than at any other time in Guardiola's managerial career. City have had five players sent off this season in all competitions, while Sergio Aguero was also given a retrospective red card for an elbow on West Ham defender Winston Reid. In his entire three years at Bayern, they only picked up seven red cards; while his worst season for discipline at Barcelona, in 2008-09, they had seven players sent off from 62 games. Guardiola can also ill afford to have Aguero banned for seven games. Before he began his latest suspension against Leicester, he had scored exactly a third of City's Premier League goals: 10 of 30.

Goalkeeping concerns

Much has been made of the decision to sign Claudio Bravo for his footballing skills, but his goalkeeping is not what Guardiola is used to. The Chile international has conceded 21 goals this season and made just 35 saves, giving him a save percentage of 62.5 percent. At Bayern, Germany keeper Manuel Neuer averaged a save percentage of 79.6 in his final season; his worst season, in 2014-15, included an average of 74.4 percent. Even in Guardiola's final season at the Camp Nou, when Victor Valdes conceded 39 goals, his save percentage was 67.8.

Goal ratio

"In all those three games, we were much, much better than our opponents. Now we have to talk and analyse, and it is a problem in the box, but we will improve," Guardiola said after the 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough on Nov. 5 -- a third successive home draw at the Etihad. The statistics concur they have a problem, with City creating 296 chances this season for their 52 goals, at an average of a goal every 5.7 chances. That's worse than any season, apart from his last with Bayern -- 6.3 chances per goal -- but he at least had the consolation of seeing his side creating more chances than any other campaign and scoring 122 goals

Champions League as it happened yesterday, Wednesday

Lionel Messi scored twice as Barcelona cruised into the Champions League round of 16 as Group C winners with a 2-0 defeat of Celtic in Glasgow on Wednesday.

Barcelona humiliated Celtic 7-0 in their first group encounter in September, with Messi scoring a hat trick in the one-sided match at the Camp Nou, and it was the Barca No. 10 who opened his side's account at Celtic Park, finishing off a sublime move from the Catalans on 24 minutes.

The five-time Ballon d'Or winner raced onto a sumptuous lobbed pass behind the defence from Neymar and lashed his first-time shot past Celtic goalkeeper Craig Gordon at the near post for a deserving 1-0 lead.

In the second half, Emilio Izaguirre pulled down Luis Suarez inside the Celtic box. Messi then stepped up to the spot and easily put Gordon the wrong way to hand Barca an unassailable 2-0 advantage.

The goal marked Messi's ninth in four Champions League matches thus far -- and 92nd overall -- placing the Argentine atop the competition's goal-scoring charts this campaign.

Messi nearly added a third in the 68th minute, but his right-footed shot slid just wide of the far post, but his effort was enough to ensure Celtic finish last in Group C.

Manchester City also advanced as Group C runners-up after a 1-1 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach, in a match that saw both sides finish with 10 men.

It was the hosts who struck first, Raffael firing home from the centre of the penalty area in the 23rd minute to give Gladbach an early 1-0 lead.

City would get back on level terms just before the break, though, as David Silva poked home from close range after Kevin De Bruyne played an incisive pass across the six-yard box.

Lars Stindl was sent off in the second half after receiving his second yellow card of the match for a hard foul on Nicolas Otamendi. Twelve minutes later, Fernandinho was shown his second yellow card for a foul on Raffael, leaving both teams to finish the match a man down.

Neither team could find the winner though, leaving City secure in second place behind Barcelona, while Gladbach move on to the Europa League.

Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain played out an entertaining 2-2 draw in Group A which leaves the top spot up for grabs going into the final round of fixtures in a fortnight.

Unai Emery's side controlled the early stages and deservedly opened the scoring in the 18th minute when Blaise Matuidi rolled Shkodran Mustafi and played a ball across the goalmouth for Cavani to slide home.

Arsenal looked out of sorts and failed to respond until the 45th minute when they won what looked like a fortunate penalty with Alexis Sanchez adjudged to have been brought down by Grzegorz Krychowiak, and Olivier Giroud converted from the spot.

The Gunners went in front on the hour mark, again in fortuitous circumstances, when Marquinhos' clearance hit Verratti and beat Areola from close range.

PSG refused to give in though and fought back into the game from a Hatem Ben Arfa corner. Moura pulled away from Carl Jenkinson at the back post to direct a header towards goal which was taken away from David Ospina by the head of Alex Iwobi.

As it stands Arsenal, who travel to Basel on Dec. 6, have to better PSG's result against Ludogorets in order to win the group. In the event of both teams having the same result, the Parisiens will top Group A due to a better head-to-head record because of their two away goals.

Kevin Gameiro and Antoine Griezmann scored as Atletico Madrid secured top spot in Group D with a 2-0 win over PSV Eindhoven.

Atletico found the breakthrough on a counter-attack in the 55th minute as Griezmann played in Gameiro with a through ball and his shot flew past goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet.

Griezmann doubled the advantage 11 minutes later, running onto a Tiago pass before beating Zoet at his near post.

The Spanish club were already through to the round of 16 alongside Bayern Munich, but the win secured first place  thanks to the German champions' stunning 3-2 defeat away to FC Rostov.

Bayern took the lead on 35 minutes when the Russian side could only half-clear a ball in the box, and Douglas Costa slammed it into the roof of the net from 10 yards. But Rostov were back level just before the break when Serdar Azmoun dribbled around Jerome Boateng and fired past goalkeeper Sven Ulreich.

After the break, Philipp Lahm missed a gilt-edged chance to put Bayern ahead, and moments later Rostov took the lead through Dmitriy Poloz's penalty following Boateng's foul in the box.

It only took Bayern two minutes to equalise as Franck Ribery played in Juan Bernat to make it 2-2, but Christian Noboa's sharp free kick put the hosts ahead for good, earning them their first Champions League victory ever.

Cenk Tosun's amazing volleyed goal sparked a wild comeback as Besiktas fought from three goals down to salvage a 3-3 draw against Benfica in Group B.

The Portuguese side entered the game only a point ahead of their Turkish hosts but quickly took the advantage when Goncalo Guedes took a through ball at the top of the box and rounded goalkeeper Fabricio in the 10th minute.

Nelsinho doubled the lead on 25 minutes when he turned and fired a blast in off the woodwork from 20 yards. Six minutes later, Benfica hit the crossbar two more times and had a shot cleared off the line before Ljubomir Fejsa finally lashed home a third.

But Tosun started Besiktas' rally in the 58th minute with a scissor kick on the volley while falling away from goal, and Ricardo Quaresma's 83rd-minute penalty after Victor Lindelof's handball made it 3-2.

Vincent Aboubakar then turned in Quaresma's remarkable rabona cross in the 89th minute to keep Group B razor thin.

Napoli still lead Group B by one point after a goalless draw at home against Dyanmo Kiev, who saw their slim hopes to move on end and will finish last.

The Italian side are level on eight points with Benfica -- with the tiebreaker to be decided when they meet on Matchday 6 -- while Besiktas remain one point back in third but could still win the group.

The battle for third place in Group A will go down to the final matchday after Ludogorets Razgrad managed a goalless draw at home with Basel.

The teams are level on two points and if both have the same result in December, the Bulgarian club will earn the Europa League spot thanks to their away goal in the opening draw against the Swiss side in September.

Hector Bellerin signs new long-term contract at Arsenal

Arsenal right-back Hector Bellerin has signed a new long-term contract with the club, ending speculation about a possible move to Barcelona or Manchester City.
Bellerin declared Arsenal "my home," and made it clear that he intends to stay at the Emirates for "many more years" after agreeing a deal that ties him to the club until 2022.
Bellerin, who is currently sidelined with an ankle injury, already had a contract until 2019 but Arsenal had been keen to offer him an improved deal that would discourage any suitors.
The club did not offer details of the new agreement, but sources told ESPN FC earlier this month that Bellerin had agreed a six-year deal worth £95,000 a week.
The Spain international has emerged as a key player over the last two years, having joined the Arsenal academy from Barcelona as a teenager.
Barcelona had expressed interest in Bellerin after Dani Alves left for Juventus, sparking fears he may follow in the footsteps of Cesc Fabregas and return to his boyhood club. Former Barcelona manager Pep Guardiola was reportedly also keen on bringing Bellerin to Man City.
However when announcing the new deal on social media, the 21-year-old said he had no plans to leave.
"Hello, everyone," Bellerin said in a video posted on Twitter. "Sorry to keep you guys waiting. I've had a very big meeting next door, so I just wanted to say that I just signed my new deal with the club so I'm really, really, really happy.
"As you know I've been here for a long time and I feel like this is my home and it was the right thing for me to do. So I'm very happy to still be a Gunner for many more years."
He added on Facebook: "A lot has changed in five years since I first joined the club. This is my home. The club who gave me my first opportunity. The club I will be at for many years."
Bellerin's contract is the first of many Arsenal hope to extend this season. Negotiations are still being held with star duo Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez over new long-term deals, while manager Arsene Wenger's future is also up in the air after his contract expires next summer.

Arsenal's Alexis Sanchez faces probe into tax during Barcelona spell - report

Arsenal forward Alexis Sanchez has been accused of defrauding the Spanish tax authorities of almost €1 million for concealing part of what he earned from image rights during his time as a Barcelona player, according to Catalan newspaper El Periodico. 

The daily publication reported that the public prosecutor's office has filed a complaint against Sanchez, who is suspected of having filed fraudulent tax returns in 2012 and 2013 to avoid paying €983,443 (£889,169).

El Periodico said Sanchez, who joined Arsenal in the summer of 2014 after three seasons at Barca, is alleged to have sought to conceal earnings from his image rights by using companies set up in Chile and in Malta.

The newspaper report claims the Chile international is alleged to have defrauded the authorities of €587,677 in 2012 and €395,766 in 2013.

If confirmed, the 29-year-old would be the fifth player to have been on the books of Barcelona to have had problems with taxes in the Spanish courts.

Earlier this summer, Barca star Lionel Messi was found guilty of three counts of tax fraud. The Argentina captain was fined and handed a suspended 21-month prison sentence.

Messi's Argentina and Barca teammate Javier Mascherano entered a guilty plea for concealing part of what he earned from image rights and was fined and given a one-year prison sentence that was also suspended.

Former Cameroon star Samuel Eto'o, who played for Barca from 2004 and 2009 and is currently with Turkish side Antalyaspor, and Brazilian defender Adriano also have open cases against them regarding alleged tax evasion in Spain.

Adriano left Barca after six seasons at the club to join Besiktas this summer.