IVAN RAKITIC had to ask his wife out '20 or 30 times' before she eventually said yes.
The Sevilla star, 32, has lifted the lid on how his relationship with Raquel Mauri began.
Rakitic first laid eyes on Mauri after he signed for Sevilla from Schalke 04 in 2011.
She worked as a barista in a coffee shop – which is where it all started for the couple.
The Croatian star found himself popping into the shop regularly just to see her.
But it was far from straightforward as the Sevilla star did not speak any Spanish.
Rakitic said: "I don’t know how to explain it. Sometimes, you meet someone and you just have a different feeling.
"Whenever I saw her, it was like a bomb went off inside me.
"Week after week, I slowly started to learn some Spanish words, and if I was struggling, I would use my hands a lot to try to explain what I was trying to say to her.
"She thought that was funny. She was like, 'Me … Jane. You … Tarzan.'
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A post shared by Raquel Mauri (@raquel_mauri)
"I was drinking so much coffee it was ridiculous. I probably asked her out 20 or 30 times."
Before he continued: "You know, I’m not the biggest guy in the world, so I thought, 'S***, maybe she sees me and she doesn’t think I’m going to be very good and Seville will sell me in the summer.'
"Part of my motivation when I went to training was to establish myself in the squad so that I would be around for a while and this girl would finally have dinner with me. It literally took me seven months."
He finally managed to secure a lunch date with her – and the rest was history.
The loved-up couple are now proud parents of two children, Althea and Adara.
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Rakitic shared a cute snap of himself with Mauri on Boxing Day to his Instagram page.
And she shared a picture of them together to her page to celebrate the New Year.
Rakitic joined Barcelona in 2014 but returned to Sevilla earlier this year on a four-year deal.
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