Ivan Rakitić was a classy, hard-working central midfielder who combined a fine passing range with an underrated goal threat. He captained Sevilla and inspired the club to European success before a move to Barcelona, where he won a haul of trophies alongside the game’s greatest players.
A key figure for Croatia, he helped drive the national team to the World Cup final in 2018, and later returned to Sevilla for a second spell, admired throughout for his intelligence and reliability.