Should Chelsea sign Sevilla midfielder Ivan Rakitic?

Ivan Rakitic

The sales of Jesus Navas, Geoffrey Kondogbia, Gary Medel, and Alvaro Negredo brought in over £58 million for Sevilla over the summer. Sevilla president Jose Maria Del Nido reportedly wants to use some of that money to tie team captain Ivan Rakitic down to a new deal, given his current one expires in the summer of 2015.

If this is true, he would have to move quickly, because interest is mounting in the Croatian. According to The Express, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United want the 25-year-old. It’s the Blues, however, who apparently lead the chase. Should they target him, though?

Given his performances in the last 18 months together with the fact that Chelsea are light in central midfield, they most certainly should.

Rakitic’s move to the Andalusian outfit has paid huge dividends. In the space of a few years, he has gone from struggling in Germany with FC Schalke to being, according to Squawka’s Performance Score rating, La Liga’s best midfielder and third-best player overall so far this season behind only Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, with 682 points.

He is a player with a great work rate and a strong mentality. Following the exits of the aforementioned players, who were the spine of the team, Rakitic has taken on a lot more responsibility, sacrificing himself for the good of the team. It’s no wonder he was given the armband this season.

A versatile player, he would offer Jose Mourinho several tactical options: he can play in a central attacking midfield position, on the flanks, and in a deeper central midfield role. The last position mentioned is precisely where he would play at Chelsea. With Marco van Ginkel out injured long-term and Michael Essien’s playing time drastically reduced, Mourinho’s options are limited, with John Obi Mikel, Ramires, and Frank Lampard his only real options.

This midfield is known more for its power and athleticism than for its craft. Lampard, though, is capable of playing some wonderful passes for his team-mates. But his real strength is his ability to make intelligent runs from deep into goal-scoring positions. It’s no fluke that he is now the club’s leading goal-scorer, which is some feat for a midfielder.

The signing of Rakitic will bring the craft that isn’t really a facet of the Blues’ midfield. He created the most chances in La Liga last season (100) and he leads the way for his club this season in that regard along with Vitolo (23). He will also bring goals. He is currently the league’s second-highest goalscoring midfielder behind Real Sociedad’s Antoine Griezmann (8), netting seven goals already this season, this despite featuring in different roles. He, like Lampard, is good at making runs from deep into goal-scoring positions, and can strike the ball sweetly from distance.

Even further, as mentioned, he has a great engine. With Medel and Kondogbia- the club’s defensive midfield duo from last season- both gone, he has increased his defensive workload this season. He has made an average of almost two successful tackles per game and made the fifth-highest amount of interceptions of the league’s midfielders (35). But he needs to work on his discipline, however, as he received 10 yellow cards and two red cards last season, and already has four yellows to his name this season.

That aside, he is a complete midfielder, one that is reaching the peak of his powers at Sevilla. The club is desperate to keep him, but one suspects that the right offer could change their minds. Should Chelsea go ahead and nab him, he should prove to be worth every penny.