Ivan Rakitic: Lamine Yamal would have improved the greatest Barcelona team of all time | OneFootball

Ivan Rakitic is the unsung hero of arguably football’s greatest ever team.

Barcelona’s 2014/15 treble winners defined an era. World-beaters in each and every position. Memory instinctively jumps to the damage done by one of the most feared forward lines in history, as for this was the year Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Neymar Jr (subsequently titled MSN) first graced the game in trio form. But it was in midfield where the strings were pulled, with Rakitic – a new signing that year – outshining the legendary trifecta of Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Xavi. He was more than up there with the best around the globe in his position.

Under the tutelage of Luis Enrique, this was as close to footballing perfection as you can get – rivalling Barca’s famous 2010/11 side. “It’s true that we had an incredible group, especially in the first few years,” Rakitic explains. “2014, 2015, 2016 – those were our best years.”

Yet a decade on from taking the world by storm, Rakitic, now 37, can’t help but look at the current Barcelona crop and curse the gods of time. Because despite playing alongside MSN – the paragon of front threes – Rakitic feels one current Barca player could have taken a celestial side to even loftier heights.

“The fact is it’s very difficult to bring somebody into that team, not just from Barcelona but from everywhere,” he added. “But good players are always welcome, they can always help, and I was asked whether there would be room for Lamine (Yamal). If you play with Leo (Messi), there’s no room for anybody. But we would’ve found a way of fitting Lamine in. Everyone would have, that’s very obvious. He’s an incredible player.”

Rakitic is not be the first to wax lyrical about Barcelona’s 17-year-old sensation. He’s also far from the first to hold Yamal in the same vein as Messi. The Spaniard surely gets in any team on the planet today. But in saying this, Rakitic thinks Yamal gets in any team ever – because if you’re good enough for 2014/15 Barca, you’ve hit the ceiling of quality.

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Ivan Rakitic says his star-studded Barcelona squad would have made room for Lamine Yamal (AP)

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Rakitic was instrumental in a trophy-winning machine (Getty Images)

The parallels with the fabled members of MSN are obvious. Just like Messi before him, Yamal is Barcelona’s latest teenage enigma chasing GOAT status. And akin to all three, he rises to the occasion when it matters most, producing mind-bending brilliance to set his team on the path for glory. Having notched 18 goals and 25 assists in all competitions, Yamal has been instrumental in leading Hansi Flick’s side to the LaLiga title.

It’s no wonder that Rakitic has Yamal as a frontrunner to win his first Ballon d’Or this year, even after missing out on the Champions League final by the skin of his teeth. If he does bring home the esteemed award, he’d have achieved the feat four years earlier than his idol, eight-time winner Messi, managed. “We’re talking about a 17-year-old youngster – this tells us that it’s not a matter of age,” the Croatian insists. “You are either there or you are not.

“If he’d reached the Champions League final, we wouldn’t have had no doubts that he would win the award this year. It’s an individual award but titles also count. But even without the Champions League final, especially how he’s playing in the final months, I think he’s a possible winner out of two or three candidates. For me personally, he’s the favourite.”

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Rakitic has Yamal as his favourite for the Ballon d’Or – and thinks it would have been a sure thing if Barcelona had pipped Inter Milan to the Champions League final (Getty)

Yamal’s absence from European football’s most prestigious finale could prove costly in his pursuit of the Ballon d’Or. But if Barcelona had edged past Inter Milan and booked their spot in Munich, there would have been conflicting emotions for Rakitic. There, his former side would be pitted against his ex-boss Enrique and the rebranded Parisian powerhouse that he has created.

Enrique set out to change the DNA at Paris Saint-Germain this year – from one that relied on superstars and crumpled under the weight of their egos, to a well-oiled machine capable of bringing down anyone. That he has achieved and there is no better indication of this transformation than talisman Ousmane Dembele’s own standards across the past campaign. In October, Enrique felt he had no choice but to drop Dembele for a Champions League trip to Arsenal – one they lost 2-0 in a reflection of a dire league phase they just about scraped through – with the word from within the club being that “he was behaving like it was the old PSG”. Fast forward eight months and Dembele, with 46 goal contributions in 47 games, has been the rocket fuel behind PSG’s push for the promised land, storming into a European final. He might just be the man to pip Yamal to the Ballon d’Or.

This remarkable turnaround of a club facing internal struggle is akin to something Rakitic was a part of, under the exact same manager. Because 2014/15 was far from a season destined for greatness for Barcelona. In January 2015, they had lost 1-0 to David Moyes' Real Sociedad, as the club also faced one of their customary institutional crises. Barcelona legend Andoni Zubizarreta had been sacked as sporting director amid presidential turmoil, while Messi was making his displeasure with the head coach clear. It led to an intervention from club captain Xavi, who called a truce for the sake of the season. Enrique, ordering discipline but being flexible enough to keep his top stars onside, went on to orchestrate one of Barcelona’s great campaigns, reigning supreme over LaLiga, the Champions League and the Copa del Rey.

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Rakitic’s former boss Luis Enrique has pulled off another remarkable rebrand to propel Paris Saint-Germain to within touching distance of Champions League glory (Getty Images)

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Enrique did the same during Barcelona’s famed 2014/15 season, dealing with internal tensions to orchestrate a treble-winning campaign (Getty Images)

As such, Enrique’s powers of renovation are hardly new to Rakitic. “It’s to do with how strong Luis Enrique is. For me, it’s not a surprise for PSG to have reached the final. And it wasn’t a surprise when Luis Enrique said their best player - Mbappe - was leaving, but they’re going to be a better team. He had a very clear plan from the beginning, just like he had a very clear plan with us.

“When I had my first call from him before I signed, he made everything clear. He’s a coach who before taking the first step has already prepared the second step. For him, it’s obvious that there are no coincidences and it’s not often you see a coach that works so hard and has such clear ideas.

“It’s not a surprise because I’ve been lucky enough to work with him day by day. I always said if PSG got through the group stage, when they were struggling, they can go to the final. It can grow and it grew. In the end, you have to congratulate him and his staff and his players for learning about the way he understands football.”

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Rakitic is fully aware of Enrique’s powers of renovations, spending three years under his tutelage (Getty Images)

First with Enrique and later under Ernesto Valverde, Rakitic enjoyed a glory-laden six years in Catalonia. After capping off his treble-winning debut campaign by notching the opener in Barca’s 3-1 Champions League final win over Juventus, he would later add three more LaLiga titles and Copa del Reys to his trophy collection before bidding farewell to the Camp Nou in 2020, bound for another Spanish club close to his heart.

Sevilla was where the midfielder first stamped his mark as a world -lass entity between 2011 and 2014, and having won all there was to win at Barca, Rakitic enjoyed another three and a half seasons in Andalusia. There, he won his second Europa League title with the club before he was finally lured away from LaLiga in 2024 – becoming the latest of a litany of veteran superstars to buy into the Saudi Pro League project.

Rakitic only spent six months at Al-Shabab – making just eight appearances – but nevertheless provided a ringing endorsement of the fledgling division. “It was a project that was growing strongly but I was really surprised because I saw a lot of good things,” he said. “They live football. There’s been a major evolution in the stadiums and the excitement that people have in Saudi Arabia about football.”

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Rakitic spent just six months in Saudi Arabia but still speaks highly of the project (Getty Images)

His positive reflections on Saudi could be of interest to legendary international midfield partner Luka Modric – with whom Rakitic spearheaded Croatia’s unlikely push to the 2018 World Cup final. Modric, 39, will leave Real Madrid this summer after a glittering 13 years in the Spanish capital. “Of course, I recommend it to all my colleagues – Luka and everybody – not just because of the football experience, but also because of the human experience. In few countries have I found so much kindness and so many good hearts as I found there, so for me and my family, it’s been a very special experience.”

Rakitic’s decision to depart Al-Shabab so soon after joining came as an opportunity to return to his homeland arose. He has spent this term at Hajduk Split, a campaign that could yet end with title glory, with his side involved in a three-way dogfight for top spot going into this weekend’s final day. Hadjuk Split have not claimed the Croatian top-flight crown in 20 years.

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While Rakitic (left) is back in his homeland, he has recommended Luka Modric to follow his suit and switch Spain for Saudi (Getty Images)

This could well be the last hurrah for one of great maestros of the modern era. Retirement is a real possibility for Rakitic. However, the 37-year-old is insistent he hasn’t yet made a decision. “I’m just focussed on the last match this Sunday and the slight possibility we have of winning the league, and that’s most important for me right now,” he finishes. “The fact is I haven’t made any decision yet. I’m still enjoying it, that’s the truth. I’ll sit down at home with my wife and kids to discuss it and when I make a decision, it will come from me and not the from the conclusions made by others.”

Regardless of what comes next, the memories of Rakitic will live on. His near-universal reputation as “underrated” goes to contradict just that. While rarely the posterboy, Rakitic was integral to a golden age at a continental goliath. Those who watched him will always remember – he was the archetype of the complete midfielder.