Shakhtar’s alum spoke about how Rakitskiy once set an ultimatum to Lucescu and the club's management

Shakhtar alumnus Vladyslav Nekhtiy, who currently plays for the first-league Kudrivka, recounted how defender Yaroslav Rakitskiy demanded to be taken into the first team of the miners.

“I heard a story that when Rakitskiy was first taken to training with the first team, Lucescu said that it was still too early for him to play in the main squad. Then it turned out that Metallurg (Donetsk) offered Rakitskiy a contract, and he told the management: ‘Either I go to Metallurg, or I go to training with the first team again.’

Well, he went to training for the second time and proved himself. Lucescu kept him. Time showed that this was not an accidental choice. Rakitskiy has a high level of football intelligence. There were few players in Europe with such passing and such a left foot,” Nekhtiy said in an interview with Ukrainian Football.