It was a wild finish to the Croatian Prva Liga season as Lokomotiva and Osijek locked horns on the final day to determine who would go to Champions League qualifying. Osijek needed an outright win to finish second but an 88th minute Danijel Lončar own goal would send Lokomotiva (basically Dinamo Zagreb’s 2nd team) to a 2-1 victory. That goal would have put Rijeka through, but instead, will see Rijeka, Osijek, and Hajduk all enter the Europa League qualifying rounds.
Dinamo Zagreb wrapped up yet another Croatian title weeks ago and will enter Europe on August 25th or 26th in a 1-leg 2nd Round qualifying fixture. The pots have yet to be determined for the draw.
More to come from Colin later in the day…
Not sure if there will be much movement.
There’s always talk of Brozovic, Rakitic or Perisic moving…but these guys are more likely to stay than go.
Raketa will probably just leave for free to Sevilla in a year from now, unless Barca can try to get something for him…but it may be too late to do this (as Sevilla will not want to pay for a player they can get in a year for nothing).
Brozovic to Liverpool and now Bayern is in the news, but I can’t see Inter just selling him off (unless Brozovic wants a big payout and insists on a transfer). I think he likes it in Milan.
Perisic is harder to predict, but would not be surprised to see him stay put. Not sure why a lot of teams aren’t knocking the doors down to get him. He’s undervalued.
Our other midfielders (Modric, Kovacic, Vlasic, and Pasalic) all stay put. I can’t see them leaving their situations. Modric and Vlasic in a year from now maybe, but nothing now.
Re: our forwards…
Rebic will likely stay at Milan since they are trying hard on finalizing the buy-option details (but this could be an issue because Fiorentina is owed money for any transfer).
I think Rebic, Eintracht, and Milan are on the same page to get it done, but you never know.
Kramaric, I’m surprised, is still at Hoffenheim after four full seasons. He’s too good for them, but I guess he likes it there. He’s always in the news for a transfer here and there (Milan, Bayern, Dortmund), but lately I hear nothing. Maybe he likes it in Europa.
I think Petkovic stays at Dinamo until after Euro. He will get some more NT games under his belt, more exposure, then a transfer to Serie A or something. I’d be surprised if Dinamo sold him earlier.
Brekalo may get sold, but Wolfsburg isn’t stupid. They will demand a lot from whoever comes asking…and as typical Germans they are, they won’t sell unless a team meets their exact valuation. I would love to see him at Atalanta or Milan.
Re: Defenders….aside from Lovren moving to Zenit, I don’t see anything happening here.
Maybe Vida leaves Turkey as the only possible move.
I’d suspect Barisic would love to transfer from Rangers to a bigger club, but he’s not some big name player on our team (and he is our least known player).
Vrsaljko was injured for too long, and didn’t get much exposure this season, so he’ll be back at Atletico.
The rest of our defenders are all still pretty young and on the upswing in their careers, and most play in very good leagues already. Teams will likely keep them.
Brozovic, Rakitic, Perisic, Rebic, Kramaric, Brekalo, Vida are probably our most likely transfers…and if it were to happen, you could probably predict where most of these guys end up (i.e. Rakitic to Sevilla, Perisic back at Inter, etc).
I’d like to see Rakitic go to Sevilla, and Brekalo go to Serie A just to increase their playing time…but their current situations aren’t horrible.
Not sure if we get any major surprises (and we’re probably better off not messing around prior to Euro2020). But who knows.
Most likely moves for Hrvati this summer
Who and where?
Go
Perisic has to go somewhere where he can just do his thing
They way he spun his defender was sick
Rebic’s assist to Zlatan was a thing of beauty today!
https://sempreinter.com/2020/07/24/bayern-munich-enquire-about-inters-marcelo-brozovic-amid-links-to-liverpool/
Although not entertain in terms of who finishes 1st, must say it was fun to watch the season pick up, post COVID lockdown, especially for the Euro spots. For all you dijaspora out there (like myself) you typically can find streams easily on YouTube even and its a great way to see some of our younger talent grow – before they got to a bigger league. I watch MLS and Prva HNL is MUCH better than the quality in MLS. Would rather watch a meh stream on YouTube of Gorica vs. Hajduk than watch the Revolution vs. NYCFC.
https://lodgexpress.com/2020/07/29/jose-mourinho-reignites-interest-in-croatia-ivan-perisic/
http://sempreinter.com/2020/07/29/bayern-munich-hopeful-of-keeping-inter-owned-ivan-perisic-at-the-club/
Perišić has 3-4 more years at top flight.
He needs to go some place where he is going to play and get paid.
Bayern is BS.