Barcelona midfielder Ivan Rakitic has termed the fee involved in the deal for Philippe Coutinho a "bit high" though he concedes the fact that it is the way the market operates at present.
The Catalan giants secured a deal for the Brazilian playmaker on Monday, signing him for a fee in the region of €160m from Premier League giants Liverpool.
The deal makes Coutinho the world's third most expensive player behind countryman Neymar and Frenchman Kylian Mbappe, who will make his move to Paris Saint-Germain permanent for €180m at the end of the season.
Raktic, who joined Barcelona from Sevilla in 2014, insists that he will welcome his new team-mate with open arms, but also believes that the amount taken to secure the deal has been on the higher side.
"My opinion doesn't matter, but the price has gone a bit high, that's what the market dictates", Rakitic was quoted as saying by Spanish daily Marca.
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"Every great player is welcome here. I congratulate the president and everyone else who made it possible for him to be here.
"He is one of the family now, we are going to enjoy him a lot, he's now at the biggest club in the world."
Coutinho was unveiled as a Barcelona player on Monday, but will not be able to feature for the Spanish league leaders for the next three weeks as he recovers from a thigh injury.
