Ivan Rakitic is a Croatian professional footballer who has joined Sevilla after making good money for six years. But before we jump to the section where he joins Sevilla, let us know something about his life and career.
Ivan Rakitic was born in Switzerland and began his football career playing for the country at a very young level. But as his parents were from Croatia, the player decided to represent Croatia at his senior level. He has been playing for different clubs since his professional career started. Moreover, the brilliant player has won many trophies and honors both at the national and club level. He was the fourth-most capped player of Croatia when he announced his national retirement in 2020. Now let’s move into depth.
Ivan Rakitic in his childhood
Ivan Rakitic grew up in Mohlin, Switzerland, with his mother, father, and older brother. His father and brother were also footballers. So he decided to start his football journey at a very early age, 16. The European scouts noticed his potential and advised him to play for small leagues. So after playing for Mohlin-Reburg for three years, he moved to the FC Basel youth team to play his heart out for the next ten years.
Highlights of the prosperous career of Ivan Rakitic
Ivan Rakitic entered his professional football career in 2005, and till now, he has won several big trophies. He aimed at winning the Swiss cup 2006-07, so he began his journey by playing for Basel. After fulfilling his aim, in 2011, he played for Sevilla, where he won UEFA Europa League 2013-14. Thereafter he received La Liga in 2014 to 16 and then 2017 to 19 while playing for Barcelona. Moreover, he also received Copa del Rey from 2014 to 2018, Supercopa de Espana in 2016 and 2018, UEFA Championship League in 2014-15, FIFA Club World Cup in 2015, and UEFA Super Cup in 2015.
Being such a pro soccer player, he also won many individual awards. But apart from all the triumphs, there were many let down too in his life. When the professional decided to play for Croatia after representing Switzerland in his youth, many Switzerland people were outraged by the decision. However, he handled the situation quite well by telling everyone in the interview that he was proud to play for Switzerland. Still, as he came from Croatia, it was his duty to represent Croatia. He also added representing Croatia does not mean he was against Switzerland.
Later, he faced another problem when Croatia got defeated by Portugal in the pre-quarterfinal of the European Championship held in France. The next day after the match, six Croatian supporters threw stones at Rakitic’s villa, smashing its window badly. They also broke down the front door, due to which Rakitic and his family had to escape from his family holiday home.
Ivan Rakitic’s life outside his career
Ivan Rakitic was born to father Luka Rakitic and mother Kata Rakitic. They were originally from Croatian, but due to tension in Yogoslavia, they moved to Switzerland before his birth. As a result, Ivan and his older brother Dejan were born and raised in Switzerland.
Ivan married Raquel Mauri in April 2013 in Seville. They dated for two years before their marriage and first met each other on the day when he joined Sevilla in 2011 at a hotel bar. However, there was full-on drama in their love life as Ivan had to try very hard to convince Raquel he was worth it. Moreover, he had to ask her out more than 20 times.
Raquel was afraid of going into a relationship with Ivan because of his professionalism. She believed that it would not work out as he has to leave for Spain in just a few years. However, after they came into a relationship, they met almost every day, and in 2013 they decided to go through a big fat wedding.
Raquel Mauri is a model and influencer on Instagram as she posts different photos of her clothes of brand 11 degrees. She is a big hit on Instagram and has more than 704K followers. The couple has two cute daughters, Adara and Althea.
Ivan Rativik now playing as a central or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Seville
The 33-year-old Ivan Rativik returns to play for Sevilla after making a lot of money in his career. He joined the team with an initial fee of 1.5 million euros. On top of this, he got 9 million euros as a potential add-on. This deal will stand for four years.
The Croatian international team won four La Liga titles and Champions League when Ivan Rativik played for the team at Nou Camp. But it was hard to play for him after Quique Setien became his former boss.
He returned to the team again, hoping the same spell will work this time when he was captaining the club of Europa League crown in 2014. On the other hand, Barcelona is looking to offload many players after the disastrous summer 2019/20 season. However, the officials insisted Lionel Messi will not be one of them even though he plans to leave for Manchester City.
The midfielder has previously represented Sevilla in the year between 2011 to 2014. During the time, he won many awards.
Croatia’s international officials enhanced the reputation of Ivan as one of the most consistent players. He performed greatly in the Spanish top-flight but fell down the squad while taking orders of Frenkie de Jong. He played four years for Sevilla before joining Barca, and they all hope this new season will again be a big hit.
Final Words
Ivan Rativik has always been proved as a gem for the team. He started his career at a very young age and has come a long way. He has seen many difficulties but never thought of quitting. Just like he is a champ in playing football, he is also a champ in his love life. He represents his team with pride and has never gone against any other team in his life. This is what makes him a great player.