The group leader has retreated! The person who is the best at bragging about Messi chooses to say goodbye. After 20 years of his career, he has led the team to the World Cup finals.

With the rise of football stars such as Yamal and Werz, the previous generation of stars ushered in a large number of farewells, especially the post-80s players gradually disappeared into the mainstream league. Although stars such as Messi and Ronaldo are still persisting, we understand that their careers have entered the countdown and may choose to leave soon. When 38-year-old Messi was still enjoying his final career in the MFA, Rakitic, the leader of the Mei Chuan group, chose to say goodbye first and ended his 20-year career.

1. From the Swiss team, he successfully entered the five major leagues

Rakitic came from the Swiss team's youth training. At the age of 17, Rakitic was promoted to the Basel first team and gradually became the main midfielder in the team. He followed Basel to win the Swiss Cup, which is also the first championship trophy in Rakitic's career. In his two seasons in Basel's first team, Rakitic played 50 games and contributed 11 goals and 1 assists. In the summer window of 2007, the Bundesliga team Schalke 04 brought Rakitic to the Bundesliga with a transfer fee of 5 million euros. At the age of 19, he successfully entered the five major leagues and played in the Bundesliga for 3 and a half seasons, becoming the main player of Schalke 04. In the past three and a half seasons, Rakitic played 135 games for Schalke 04, contributing 16 goals and 29 assists. He followed the team to win the German Cup championship in the 2010-11 season and completed his Champions League debut at Schalke 04.

2011 winter transfer window, La Liga team Sevilla brought Rakitic to the La Liga with an extremely low price of 2.5 million euros. Rakitic played 149 games in two and a half seasons in Sevilla, contributing 32 goals and 41 assists, and won the Europa League championship with the Europa League king Sevilla in the 2013-14 season. Rakitic, who has only joined the team for two and a half seasons, was favored by La Liga giants Barcelona with his outstanding performance. He joined Barcelona for 18 million euros and became a member of the Red and Blue Army.

2. He switched to Barcelona as teammates and led the national team to create history

Rakitic and Messi who successfully transferred to Barcelona in the summer window in 2014 became teammates. During his time at Barcelona, ​​Rakitic did not hide his love for Messi. He always praised Messi's talent on the court from different angles, so that he was nicknamed the group leader of the Mei Biao group by fans. Rakitic is not inferior to his performance on the court. In his first season of joining the team, he won the La Liga championship, the King's Cup and the Champions League championship. In his six seasons at Barcelona, ​​he has won many championship trophies. Including 1 Champions League, 4 La Liga, 4 Cups of Kings' Cup and other championship trophys. In his six seasons of playing for Barcelona, ​​Rakitic played 310 games and contributed 35 goals and 42 assists. It is a trustworthy part of Barcelona's midfielder and is loved by many Barcelona fans.

While playing for Barcelona, ​​Rakitic also led the Croatian national team and created the best World Cup results belonging to the lattice army. In the 2018 World Cup, Croatia has a large number of giant players such as Modric, Rakitic, and Mandzukic. They beat Argentina in the group stage to win the first place in the group and advanced to the top 16 of the World Cup. And in the knockout round, he defeated Denmark, Russia and England in a row, reaching the World Cup final for the first time in history. Although he lost to France in the final, Croatia has made history and they played Croatian rhapsody in Russia. Rakitic made all seven games in the World Cup and scored a goal, which was one of the important contributors to the team's finals. In the 2022 World Cup, Croatia reached the semi-finals for two consecutive times, and Rakitic is still the main midfielder in the team and has made great contributions.

3. Leaving Barcelona and returning to Sevi, ending his career in his hometown, Rakitic ushered in the moment of bidding farewell to Barcelona in 2020. Sevilla brought him back to the team with a transfer fee of 3.5 million euros. Rakitic once again played for Sevilla for three and a half seasons, playing 174 games for the team this time, contributing 19 goals and 22 assists. In the 2022-23 season, Rakitic once again won the UEFA Cup championship with the team. In the winter window of 2024, 36-year-old Rakitic left European football. He bid farewell to Sevilla, who played for twice, came to the Asian arena, and joined the Saudi team Riyadh Youth. However, after only half a season for the team, leaving 8 appearance records, Rakitic took his bags and left the team again. This time he chose to return to his hometown of Croatia and joined the Croatian team Hayduk. Rakitic played for a full season in Croatia in the 2024-25 season. He played 39 games, contributing 2 goals and 5 assists, helping Hayduke win the third place in the league. After the season, Rakitic has been hesitating about whether to continue his career. After full consideration, 37-year-old Rakitic announced his end of his career, and many wonderful memories of his time in the club and national team were sealed, and group owner Rakitic ended his 20-year career.