In recent years, the Vatreni have struggled to find a true skilled player to put the flank – Brekalo and Oršić both have the potential – but let’s face it, they’ll never be world class. Ivan Šaranić, a 17 year-old winger and attacking midfielder from Dinamo Zagreb might just be the cure to the problem.
With an extremely impressive resumé of 80 goals in 85 appearances for the Dinamo Zagreb youth squads, Šaranić has already caught the eyes of Juventus, Barcelona, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid, respectively. Recently, Barcelona sent Dinamo Zagreb an offer for Šaranić that was vetoed by Zdravko Mamić, who asked for much more than Barcelona initially offered – proving that Dinamo do not want to let go of the youngster so easily. Šaranić is just getting started, as he recently made his debut for the Modri in a cup victory over Rudeš. He also scored his first professional goal last weekend for Dinamo Zagreb II in a crucial Druga Liga match. Šaranić is about as close to a complete player as it gets: he possesses magnificent pace, superb dribbling skills, outstanding long range shots, and already has a mature demeanor. The 17 year-old is well known for his terrific consistency and for scoring magnificent goals from outside the box nearly every match.
After speaking with Šaranić and his agent Matej Škegro, from MSports PRO, we learned that Ivan Šaranić enjoys comparing his style of play to Juventus’ rising star, Dejan Kulusevski. When asked about his opinion on being dubbed “the Croatian Kevin De Bruyne”, Ivan replied, “I really like that they compare me with De Bruyne, but I play a little closer to goal.” Ivan considers Luka Modrić to be his idol, and also says that Dinamo Zagreb’s captain Arijan Ademi has taken the youngster under his wing and assured him that he can always count on him, a gesture that has stuck with Šaranić.
Šaranić has a list of accomplishments to his name at such a young age. The attacker has four youth league trophies in his cabinet – at the U14-17 levels – and was within the league’s top three scorers every season – while playing as an attacking midfielder. Ivan has scored eight goals in 31 appearances for Croatian youth teams (U15-19), most recently featuring for the U19 squad under Joe Šimunić. When asked about his emotions following his debut with the Dinamo Zagreb senior squad in a 2-0 victory over Rudeš, Ivan told us, “This was a dream come true for every Dinamo academy player, I felt proud and happy that I made my debut.” Playing for a Europa League quarterfinalist’s senior squad at the age of 17 is a big accomplishment, and a huge stepping stone in the young player’s career.
Ivan is arguably the most technically gifted Croatian football talent (alongside Luka Sučić) Croatia has seen since Alen Halilović – but this time, Dinamo Zagreb has been crucial in helping the player develop before sending him to a gigantic European squad. Ivan Šaranić adds to the terrific list of young attackers that Croatia is producing at the moment, and has the potential to be a pivotal player for the Vatreni senior side sooner than later.
Šaranić Highlights
any links to dinamo vs. osijek?
This guy is the real deal
The “next big…” tends to turn into the present insignificant thing the majority of times…hope springs eternal on here,though I’m sure ONE of these hyped kids will eventually pan out!
Nope. They’re resting him for the next game though
Anybody heard anything about modric injury?
Thanks for the article, its nice to hear good news about our youngsters. Dinamo have created a great formula for developing talent, and selling them at the right time. It seems they are confident and intelligent enough to hold onto their talent long enough to allow them to grow. They end up making exponentially more money in the end, and get the benefit of fielding a stronger squad in Europe.
Šaranić looks good.
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Very aggressive in the opponent’s third…but more importantly, he’s very decisive. He knows what he wants to do.
Has all the other traits typical of a creative Croatian midfielder.
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Glad to hear that he’s sticking with Dinamo. He should develop nicely.
Enjoying reading about these up and coming players. And great management decision from Dinamo to keep these players. Earning big bucks from the latest Europa and Champs League runs means they aren’t hard up for money and cash in bigger by holding and watching the players develop and blossom.
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The best use of a Superleague would be for European U19 teams, with promotion/relegation. Would be super to see Dinamo, who would surely be in the top tier, play against the likes of Porto, Arsenal, Ajax, Zvezda, Chelsea, etc. Perhaps play each team only once, every two weeks, so the youngsters don’t burn out.
@Suba
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I agree. Josip Brekalo is still only 22.
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Remember…our players tend to blossom closer to their mid-20s than their early-20s. This has happened for almost all of our players.
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As a comparison, some of our other former Bundesliga guys like Rakitic, Mandzo, and Perisic weren’t doing too well for their clubs at age 22 either.
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Raketa (after starting his Schalke career off well) eventually was sold for peanuts to Sevilla…and he lost his starting spot there too, and played off the bench for a year. It was only until the age of 24 where he had a breakout season, and took off from there.
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Mandzukic (who also played at Wolfsburg) had his career stifled there for a season (where he went on a brutal goalless streak that lasted 16 games). They fired their coach, and he then started scoring goals again. Then he had his coming out party at Euro 2012 (which got him a transfer to Bayern). Nobody thought it was a good idea, because Mario Gomez was already at Bayern and was a prolific scorer there. But Mandzo took his starting spot.
Mind you, his turnaround at Wolfsburg started at age 25 and his move to Bayern was at age 26.
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Perisic (at the same age as Brekalo) had an almost identical career while he was at Borussia Dortmund.
He was an up-and-coming youngster, who made an early splash (with an amazing Champions League goal against Arsenal).
Then Klopp relegates him to the bench, and he was there until he was 24 years old.
He moved to Wolfsburg after that, and his career started to steadily take off (where he really stood out at the 2014 World Cup, when he was 25 years old).
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I’m not sure if this is simply the Bundesliga having some sort of knack of plateauing our young players, until they make a move to a bigger club…
Or, maybe the “magic number” for all young Croat footballers is 24.
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Either way, it’s way too soon to judge Brekalo with a “let’s face it, he’ll never be world class” comment.
Let’s hope he does not get a big transfer, sit on the bench, and flounder. Do big youth transfers ever work for us?
I think you have written off Brekalo a bit too early
https://sempremilan.com/gds-the-super-league-combusts-now-milan-will-have-to-deal-with-uefa-and-with-boban
Karma is a bitch ..