Barcelona star makes Coutinho vow despite questioning fee

Ivan Rakitic has admitted he is shocked by the £142million fee Barcelona have spent luring Philippe Coutinho to the Nou Camp.

The long-running saga was finally brought to an end earlier on Monday when Barcelona paraded their club-record signing – with Coutinho becoming the third most expensive player in history in the process.

Barcelona will pay Liverpool an estimated €120million up front – with a further €40million in incentives and add-obs – meaning only Neymar and Kylian Mbappe have cost more in the history of the game.

But speaking about the deal, new Barcelona teammate Rakitic has suggested Barcelona may have overpaid for Coutinho. “Every good player is welcome, I congratulate the president and everyone who has made it possible for us to be here.”

When questioned if he feared Coutinho could take his place, Rakitic added: “We welcome him as one more, he is one of the family, we all know him, we are going to enjoy him a lot.

“Every good player is welcome and we will all fight for the goals, no matter my opinion about the price, it’s gone up a bit, but it’s the market that decides where to move, but it’s the biggest club in the world.

“We wanted another player to come, one who is among the best.”

Rakitic added: “He can not play the Champions League, but that was already known, he will help us in La Liga and hopefully in the cup.

“But we have to give him time, we will give him affection.”