The year of 2018 will be one to remember for Ivan Rakitic and also for his Croatia teammate Luka Modric, who he believes should be winning any individual awards that aren't claimed by Lionel Messi.
The Barcelona midfielder spoke about the individual awards that are coming up, for the past season and for the calendar year, and spoke of Modric's candidacy.
"If there is an individual prize that Lionel Messi can't win, then there's no doubt that this season it should go to Luka Modric," he said in an interview with MARCA.
"It wouldn't surprise me if he were to win with many more votes.
"This has been his year and I am really happy for him.
"If Messi isn't the best, then it has to be Modric."
Reaching the World Cup final was a massive achievement for all of the Croatian players, although Rakitic would have liked to have done better with Barcelona in the Champions League.
"Now that several months have passed you can say that we might have done things differently," he said of the 3-0 loss away at Roma.
"People get smarter and analyse things.
"It's good for us to learn from that and to not go through something like that again.
"Of course there were things we could have done better."
In the summer, he considered an offer from Paris Saint-Germain, but Ernesto Valverde helped to convince him to stay.
"I'm really grateful for the coach's words and for the conversations I had with him," Rakitic said of the decision he made.
"The way he has behaved with me has been really good and I appreciate it all.
"I always try to give my best and I want to be involved all the time, not missing any training sessions and being able to give my all for my teammates. "
He also spoke about plans to play a match between Barcelona and Girona in the USA.
"If they do decide to go over there then we'll go feeling the pride of representing Barcelona," he said.
"Also, it'd be at Miami, a stadium we know.
"If we don't go then we avoid a long journey.
"The important thing is that the best thing for everyone is done, for the players, the clubs and the fans.
"The decisions should be made together."
His complete interview with MARCA can be found online and in print on Friday, September 14.
Divyansh26
114
Raikitic be like 😂😂😂....
Abdik
82
Rakatic is typical Messi fanboy. Which also makes him a Cr7 hater lol 😂. I've never seen him say anything good about Cr7.
Sterzil
77
I wouldn't take This lightly just because Messi was omitted last season doesn't mean he should talk this way, he still is one of the best players ever.. luka was fantastic last season but he can't be compared with the like of messi bush because he had a wonderful season... There's Every chance luka can win any award but that doesn't mean he should be compared with the likes of Messi it doesn't go like best... Am sure next time Messi would definitely b there
FootballAddict
66
It is an understandable comment from teammate of both messi and modric tho..anyway,despite messi great performance last season,he doesnt deserved to be in the final top 3 tho just winning la liga and copa del rey,i know its gonna trigger lots of barca fanboys (maybe those who understand simple logic beyond the nomination would actually understand that tho)..so rakitic’s comment giving the image as if after modric,messi is the next choice to be the best player of the year,but the truth is,for last season,he doesnt deserve that and ronaldo or salah or even griezmann deserved it more than messi bcoz ballon d’or always counts ur highest achievement in a season aside of ur individual stats. So winning la liga and copa del rey cant be compared with other better candidates that have great individual stats plus winning UCL/world cup/ carried their team to final of UCL/world cup tho. Its just not enuff for messi for last season. Sorry im not a hater of messi,always an excitement to watch him play and he is undoubtfully one of the greatest ever to play the game,but for last season,he doesnt deserved to be in the final top 3. Peace.
ORUVAL2
61
Is he not a player of high magnitude who should be competeting to win this trophies too? He should the fact that Messi isn't there and give it to where it belongs rather than crying over spilt milk..
Conadklmos
51
there is no need in comparing the two players but the truth is that ronaldo is the reigning king in current football history. although both of them are fantastic but CR7 is the king. For rakitic. He is just a kid that doesn't think about perfectly. But Luka should enjoy his European best and forget about the world best
elninoh de suspect
33
That's true Rakitic......Its Messi or Modric