Huge news out of Manchester – 29-year-old midfielder Mateo Kovačić has officially joined UCL winners Manchester City for 30 million euros!
The move comes after months of speculation about Kovačić leaving Chelsea. In the midst of a slump for the club, Kovačić remained one of their top performers, guiding them to key victories here and there. He was also linked with Bayern Munich, but City seems to be the best fit given that German star midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is on his way to Barcelona. Kovačić will likely slide right into the starting lineup.
The 29-year-old will be surrounded by superstars such as Kevin De Bruyne and Erling Haaland. Many experts believe that manager Pep Guardiola will bring Kovačić to new heights, potentially fulfilling his potential as a top-5 midfielder in world football. At this stage of his career, Kovačić couldn’t have asked for a better transfer. He’s broken out before, but now it’s time to witness “Kova Ball” at a whole different level.
If it’s not already clear enough, this move is massive for Croatian football.
Let’s pray Arsenal steps up for Declan Rice – worst case scenario is if Man City gets him – w/ GBP >90m fee and 24 y.o. – he will get priority in pecking order
Declan Rice to Arsenal !
Real giving the captains arm band to nacho and not Luka is rather shameful.
It goes by seniority. Luka will wear it more often than not because you have to be on the field to wear it. Nacho will not play too much. Luka will.
I hope they win a trophy with Luka wearing it so he can lift it
The Man City move looks like a terrible move for kovacic. It remains most important that he plays and develops consistently. Man city is a powerhouse team with world class players rotating in and out, and kovacic is not at world class level. His likelihood is very high of getting lost in the shuffle and sitting on the bench to only to final 15 minutes of the game relief
last thing croatia needs when kovacic is supposed to be taking the modric reigns is to see him waste years of his career again like he did at real
Biggest disappointment lately is definitely Majer. Watching him at the world cup, I couldn’t help but feel a bit underwhelmed at his slowness despite having a good season at rennes. He was supposed one of the highest statistically rated players in the world during that season and has just been tough to see, granted he has played with both a face mask and a club for an arm. Maybe there is some hope, but as I’ve said I worry that he needs to play a very specific role to be successful..
He continues to win the award though for person who looks like a shield head on a body. Kovacic continues to win the award for person who most looks like a cube head on a body.
You obviously don’t watch Majer. He actually had a rather disappointing season at Rennes, spending long spells on the bench (while fit). He closed the season ok, but overall he was not very good.
Becar,
I was going to say that same thing, but I didn’t know if I should bother responding. Majer has had a rather difficult season, so I wasn’t really underwhelmed at his performance (the same way that truth was) I think it should have been expected on Dalic’s part. I don’t know what the reason has been but he has been struggling at Rennes, and his performances both in the World Cup and Nations League have not been the best at all. Save a couple of goals he hasn’t been particularly strong in the final third, and he has been making quite a few mistakes that have been costly at times. At this time I don’t believe that a defensive capacity is his strong suit, personally.
Now it’s only been one season that he he has been playing this poorly so I think he deserves the benefit of a doubt to prove himself for next season. But if he is playing poorly again you kinda have to wait out the call up, there are a lot of players we have in the midfield and the backline, and plenty coming through the pipework.
What irks me here, however, is that Majer was suited to be a strong attacking midfield player which Dalic could actually use seeing as their problem was and is scoring goals. He had like 10 or 11 goals last season with Rennes and a similar amount of assists. He had incredible stats that made him compete with the likes Messi in certain circumstances (attacking chances created in the final third) which is why people like myself were favouring the guy. This is also around the time that he was barely getting any playing time with the National Squad on Dalic’s watch.
I think this really goes to Maminjo’s point previously, which he has said a few times, that Dalic doesn’t seem to utilize these players when they are red hot, and then when they stale he puts them on more so. It is definitely a fair grype to have with Dalic, inspite of all the good things has done which are many.
So I don’t fully agree with Truth’s statement as it’s not taking into account the whole picture here of Majer over the last two seasons.
He’s hasn’t integrated well in French culture.
He hates the crappy food, and thinks the coffee is really bad.
There is a funny video going around where he’s doing an interview with Croatian media and he’s complaining about these things, ha ha.
I think he needs to make a move closer to home (probably Serie A) where he can get himself a good meal and cappuccino.
But on a more serious note, the real reason is just the way Rennes play the game and him simply not being a good fit there.
Although I haven’t watched Rennes games (who does really), I believe their style doesn’t suit his style of play.
They’re less about creativity via their central midfield, and they play very wide and are more about attacking via their fullbacks.
Also, because they play very wide and push forward up the pitch…they have to be very quick to defend against the counter, and all players have to quickly transition from offense to defense.
This is where Majer is pretty much useless.
So, Rennes doesn’t even really maximize what Majer offers offensively…and at the same time, they need him to hustle back hard on defense because they play wide and expose themselves to the opposing counters.
Fark…if you think Kova is not world class than you belong in the selo…wow..he has only played at Inter, Real, Chelsea, now city…
Who the fuck defended Croatia but the Hrvati from the selo you bitches from the city just yap with no back bone what you know a few croa words makes you a Cro specialist fucken pedar”s =U= Za dom AP rob za nikoga
I thought someone wrote that Luka Modric had announced he decided to stay, with the national team, but don’t see any articles to that fact. Am I mistaken. I thought the singing did the trick?
OK, so he is on the team that won the Champions League, so can we count it retroactively that it makes 11 years (or whatever it is) in a row that a Croat was on the winning team. 😉
LOL. Totally agree, nice try on our part.
Kovačić is an IQ player that will adapt to Pep’s system seamlessly.
He has played for Dinamo- Inter – Real – Chelsea. Plus the most intelligent National team midfield on the planet.
And now he plays for the best club in the world again!
He has played with Modrić/Brozovic for years.
He has shown glimpses of goal prowess.
If you put together a highlight reel of his top attacking plays he would look like a video game.
I was hoping for a Real Madrid return as I felt he could have done well there but with Kroos and Modrić still dividing time the minutes were not meant to be.
Actually curious about Brozovic?
Barca or Al-Nassr?
La liga vs Saudi league?
I find it hard to believe that Broz would make such a bad career decision by selling out to the Saudi’s, but he does have a reputation for being crazy. Hopefully its Barca, or staying at Inter.
Couple of things:
Firstly, just so people know, Man City have ALWAYS had more fans and more loyal supporters than Man Utd in Manchester. Most Man Utd fans aren’t from Manchester. Yes they weren’t a big successful club but the culture of the club has a deep passionate history. People who talk about man city being a plastic or only money club reveal that it is they themselves who are newcomers to the game.
Secondly, kovacic will most likely sit to begin with. Guardiola plays a very specific tactical system which requires A LOT of hard work and learning to adjust to. Look at grealish. He didn’t play much first year at all and everyone said he was a bust but he was learning how to play the guardiola system. Now he is one of the main players. It will take kovacic time to adapt, but if he is successful you will see another gear from him, including goals. Don’t forget gundogan only became a regular goalscorer at man city. Guardiola is the best coach in the world BY FAR. he will have a plan for kovacic. Guardiola likes to prove he is ahead of football, it would surprise me if he wants to show how good he is by making kovacic finally fulfil his potential as a COMPLETE midfielder
I am not so sure about Mateo Kovačić vertical trajectory from here. I am hopeful things working out for the best. He is a solid player no doubt, and is good for maintaining possession. His attempts on goal are either weak or not on frame. He is not a goal scorer unfortunately, just a great player. He is a valuable piece of the puzzle. He deserves our respect albeit, all the same.
Kovačić doesn’t have top-5 midfielder potential.
He never developed his passing and shooting in the final third.
Don’t get me wrong, he’s a very good midfielder who improved over these past few years at Chelsea, but he never really improved that much in the opponent’s third.
You need this to be a top-5 midfielder and he’s already 29, so unless he’s a late bloomer who has an extra gear (like Modric did when he hit 30) then, we probably won’t see anything too special coming from that area of his game.
He could surprise us though.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfiyI7PORLA
Peder Pep screwed up Mandžukić and Bayern.
But Kovačić is his type of player and at his absolute peak time.
We spend all of our time talking about what Mateo can’t do but very little on what he can.
His #8 play is in impressive and he will actually get better playing with better players.
Gvardiol in the mix and then you have two corner stones playing club football together.
If Kova is a replacement for Gundogan, then Man City sure as hell isn’t looking to replace Gundogan’s goal output. Mateo has 5 goals total in over 200 games since signing for Real Madrid and Gundogan has 44 in 188 games for Man City. Kova the most overrated player to wear the checkers.
What about fair play, how can they pull this off?
If he could handle the Pride of London he’ll be fine at City. Besides City has no supporters so it should be nice and quiet.
I don’t trust the Englezi nor Guardiola
I hope Mateo has made the right move for himself and country
I am sure he received adequate reassurances during his negotiations
Regardless all the best to him in joining the current European champions
If it works out it would make a potential superstar
This is a great move. Hopefully Kovacic can reach the next level and be a transition piece that he truly needs to be for the national team’s midfield.
He has been through too many games and has too much experience to be benched; especially with the talent surrounding him on that team.
With regards to the comments of him being benched I think it is not very likely. Guardiola has stressed that he favours Kovacic as a player for his midfield, so this is definitely a good thing for Kovacic. He will be a starter, and a support mechanism for KDB. I think the pairing of the two on Guardiola’s part is a very art move.
Huge move! And smart move. He will replace Gundogan and will have plenty of weapons around him in KDB and Haaland etc. Will be fun to watch next season.
How happy is Lebo right now??
Great move…huge upgrade from Chelsea. I agree that this will bring Kova’s game to new heights, and help him fulfill his potential. Great news for the repka as well.
I’m afraid that this will backfire. If he struggles at all, bench warming is guaranteed. The English have no fear of wasting money, especially Manchester City. Let’s hope for the best. This will either be an incredibly successful move or an epic fail, just my 2¢.
He’s supposed to replace Gundogan, who is leaving the club and joining Barcelona.
Gundogan was a starter, so the starting gig is there for Mateo to take.
There for the taking, sure. But the patience level will be short. If he takes time to acclimate, get in a groove, etc. they will put him on the bench quickly. Chances are that doesn’t happen, but with a club like MC where his salary is just a rounding error to their accounting books, just don’t want to see him rot on the bench.
He’ll be fine, Lotto was the same.