The future of Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has now been sealed, as the Croatian international has now signed a new deal with the champions of Spain. The new contract now will keep him at the Nou Camp until 2021. Earlier there had been speculations of the player being linked with a move to England. However, this deal has seen the player have a buy-out clause of €125m added to the earlier stipulations.

This could be a major set-back for two Premier League giants, Manchester United and Manchester City, who seemed eager to add the midfielder to their squads under Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola respectively.

The 28 year old star has played an influential role in the starting eleven of the Catalan outfit, with Luis Enrique making good use of his services.

The club’s official website had a statement, which read as, “FC Barcelona has announced that it has reached an agreement with Ivan Rakitic to extend his contract through to 30 June 2021. The buyout clause will be set at 125 million euros, and he’ll be putting pen to paper on March 10 at 1.00pm CET in the club offices.”

A potential exit seemed on the cards, with rumours flooding the tabloids some time ago, with the Barca manager unable to give Rakitic too many opportunities, due to the intense fight for places.

This had caught the attention of both Manchester based clubs, with the Red Devils looking to complete a quick move.

On the other hand, ex Barca boss Pep Guardiola was also eager to sign him and bring him to the Etihad, after a bumpy start to life in the top flight of English football.

This is one battle that all three clubs are eager to win and it seems that the La Liga giants are firmly on top at the moment.