Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has intimated he wants to keep Ivan Rakitic.

Barcelona have already secured the signing of Frenkie de Jong from the start of the 2019/20 season, and with Carles Alena having emerged as a senior player there are question marks over whether Rakitic will stay past the summer.

"The club will take the right steps," he said.

"They will do what they need to in order to have the best players possible.

"He's [Ivan] very important, as are the other players."