MADRID, Aug. 26 (Xinhua) -- FC Barcelona's Croatian international midfielder Ivan Rakitic on Sunday finally ended rumors of a possible move to join Paris Saint Germain.
The past weeks have seen stories about the French side seeking to buy Rakitic and Barca coach Ernesto Valverde went as far as to highlight the Croatian's importance to his side when he spoke to the press on Friday ahead of Barca's trip to play Valladolid late on Saturday night.
After that game ended in a 1-0 win for Barca shortly after midnight, Rakitic addressed Barca TV and insisted he had no intention of leaving the Camp Nou.
"People have spoken about it a lot but I really want to stay here. There is nothing better than defending these colors. I will do my best and that's it," he said.
The midfielder didn't deny the interest from France, but said he had "realized that the best thing is to be in Barcelona and to continue trying to win everyone. I am happy and proud to be here," he insisted.
The main talking point of Saturday's win was the state of the pitch in Valladolid's Nuevo Zorrilla Stadium; the playing surface had only been laid five days before the game and lifted up in large chunks, prompting Barca defender Gerard Pique to comment "if we want to sell our product abroad and play games in the United States (as LaLiga recently announced), first of all we should look at what we have here at home."
"This is a disgrace, it's deplorable and it's not just because you can't play football, it's because of the risk of injury," he said.
LaLiga have confirmed they will open an enquiry into the state of the playing surface.
