5. Borna Barišić – Rangers F.C.
The second half of 2021 was very rough for 29 year-old left-back Borna Barišić. After scoring five goals and assisting 14 times in 50 appearances last season, Barišić was finally becoming a solidified starter for the Vatreni. Since then, however, Barišić has only assisted twice in 22 matches and lost his starting spot for Croatia to 23 year-old Borna Sosa. On Tuesday, The Sun reported that Rangers declined a laughable two-million pound offer from Premier League side Watford for Barišić. A move to a low-table English side would have been perfect for Barišić at this stage in his career – he would be put to the ultimate test in the Premier League, receive lots of playing time, and be given a huge chance to silence his biggest critics by helping Watford out of the league’s relegation zone. Barišić is in desperate need of a revival season if he ever wishes to see solid playing time for the Vatreni again.
4. Domagoj Bradarić – LOSC Lille
Things have gone from average to awful for Domagoj Bradarić this season. Similar to Barišić, Bradarić showed signs of becoming Croatia’s next great left-back when he was only 20 years-old after assisting on his international debut against Switzerland. Bradarić also scored a ridiculous goal against England’s U-21s to send Croatia to the Under-21 Euro quarterfinals in early 2021. Despite his international success, Bradarić has struggled to see the field for Lille this season, only appearing six times for his club. Get French Football News reports that Dutch side Feyenoord is interested in bringing Bradarić in on a loan. A move to the Eredivisie would be fantastic for the struggling youngster, as the league would offer him a decent challenge and improved playing time. Bradarić would also thrive in Serie A, a league full of speedy wing-backs similar to himself. Bradarić has lots of time to bring his career back on track, but a good move this winter could prove to be vital for his growth as a young footballer.
3. Marin Ljubičić – Hajduk Split
I’m going to be extremely honest – Hajduk Split is the absolute worst club for young Croatian footballers. 19 year-old Marin Ljubičić has already proven to be one of the best striker talents Croatia has seen in ages, alongside his U-21 teammate Roko Šimić. Ljubičić has scored a fantastic 9 goals in 30 matches for Hajduk Split’s first team (not to mention that he is behind Prva Liga MVP frontrunner Marko Livaja in the pecking order), yet all of the sudden, Hajduk plan on bringing Nikola Kalinić into the club this winter. Anyone who has followed Hajduk for more than three years knows that veterans ALWAYS find a way to surpass youngsters in the team sheet. Ljubičić will rarely see the field for Hajduk if the deal is completed, leaving him as a third string striker. Thankfully, Slobodna Dalmacija reports that several clubs in Italy are interested in the young attacker. Rumor has it that Hajduk are asking for five-million Euros for Ljubičić. Ljubičić must find a way out of Split before the club severely damages his promising career, and this winter is the perfect chance.
2. Šime Vrsaljko – Atletico Madrid
The downfall of Šime Vrsaljko following his magnificent 2018 World Cup has been a sad sight for all of us. The 29 year-old right-back cannot catch a break from severe injuries, and constantly struggles to see the pitch for Atletico Madrid despite his decent performances for the club when given a chance. On Tuesday, it was confirmed that right-back Kieran Trippier would be leaving the club for Newcastle, opening a huge starting role for Šime. However, those hopes were instantly crushed as Atletico Madrid is supposedly searching for a new starting right-back on the transfer market. Vrsaljko was considered one of the world’s top right-backs in 2018, and his quality remains evident – but he really, really needs to get the hell out of Madrid, even if it’s on a loan. Although Josip Juranović has been a solid right-back for the Vatreni in recent times, the spot will always remain open for Vrslajko if he stays healthy and is starting for a good club. A move to a mid/top-table Serie A or Bundesliga side could prove to be huge for his career. It’s quite simple, a player coming back from a rough stretch of injuries needs very good playing time, and Vrsaljko isn’t finding that in Madrid.
1. Dominik Livaković – Dinamo Zagreb
If CroatianSports.com had an award for “most disappointing player of 2021”, Livaković would definitely be our winner. Livaković had the opportunity to join Wolverhampton in the Premier League in the summer of 2021, soon after becoming Croatia’s #1 goalkeeper and making the save of his life against Harry Kane to send Tottenham packing in the Europa League round of 16. Many people let go of their doubts about the 26 year-old goalkeeper, and were excited to see him in the Vatreni’s starting lineup nearly every match. But what did he decide to do? Stay in the Prva Liga, the worst decision of his young career. Ivo Grbić soon took over as Croatia’s starting keeper after making a smart move to Lille, in a league where he will face shots from Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Kylian Mbappé. Meanwhile, Livaković still faces Slaven Belupo four times a year and shits his pants in an important European match against a stronger side. Livaković will never stand between Croatia’s posts as a solidified starter again unless he finds a way out of Zagreb. It’s a move he could have made about three years ago!
I’m skeptical about such a young guy like gvardiol leaving for Real now but hey you never know
He may get his opportunity and run with it
Having luka there for hopefully another year will be huge for support and maybe they can win a CL next year and then luka leaves as forever king
Speaking of CBs should caleta be transferred? I know it’s been an on going saga with him
I feel sorry for Vrsaljko in regards to his injuries. However, he should have left Atletico Madrid long time ago, as it was obvious that he was going to be spending most of his time on the bench. He needs to find another club and start playing regularly before being considered for a return to the national team.
There is talk that Trippier is leaving Atletico to join Newcastle in EPL ? so just maybe, he will get more time play at Atletico ?
He also has a problem with Dalic, after his outburst at Euro’s.
Like Rebic, I think he will need to speak to Dalic and try to resolve the issue before his recall to the national team.
For me, he doesn’t get in the squad anymore. We have Josip Juranovic and Josip Stanisic at Right-back which can rotate between the two and bring competition.
We’ve got to move on from players like Vrsaljko and Vida because we didn’t progress with them in the team and we wouldn’t be able to in the future.
Fully agreed.
I love Sime and had a lot of great laughs watching him and Lovren’s antics at the WC…and he was excellent…but he is completely done now.
And his outburst at Euros at Dalic and same with Rebic means to me there is no way back anyways…a fake “sorry” now that we did all the nerve wracking hard work to qualify would be completely disingenious anyways and I would not accept them back no matter what…they made their bed, they have to lie in it now…we have moved on and will do fine without them…their loss, not ours.
Vrsaljko is yesterday’s hero. His term is up and time is done.
Good player with great potential it just never meshed.
That being said he was and is a terrific baller but the new generation grew up quicker than we thought.
Sime is one of the casualties of the riches we thourily enjoy at the moment.
What I’d love to see is Gvardiol go to Real Madrid. He’ll be a star there eventually. Get the hell out of Germany and for the love of God don’t take the money and go to some s.hit English team to play kick and run in s.hit weather. Join the biggest club in the world and win CLs and continue the 10 years in a row streak of the CL winner having at least one Cro player.
He’s either going to Real Madrid or Liverpool.
I’ll put money on that.
I prefer Spain for him. I think he’ll be a star.
Why does he need to rush his time at RB Leipzig? He’s been absolutely superb there and is proving himself as a great centre-back in the bundesliga. He should take his time and then he could move the next season or the season after.
Have a look at what Modric did at Tottenham, he was there for about 3-4 years and when he proved himself, he then made his move to Real Madrid and is now in Real Madrid folklore as one of the best midfielders in this generation.
Because Real is looking for a CB right now to join Miltao and Alaba….and chances to join a club like Real rarely come so take it and go or forever regret a missed opportunity.
He has the total skill set to succeed at Real….fast, strong, technically very good, calm and composed, a winner….and will only get better.
Oh yeah, I completely forgot that Militao and Alaba are the only centre-backs and if Gvardiol is added to Real, he could rotate with David Alaba but quite possibly overtake his spot.
Agreed that Gvardiol, at least at this point of his career, should not go to an EPL team. Don’t know what you mean about kick and run, though. EPL is the richest league in the world, by far, and they can attract the best talent in the world. Two of the last three Champions League finals were all English contests. Kick and run ended in England a decade ago, if not longer.
RM will be back to winning the CL very soon once Mbappe comes this summer, and Halland (also?) come…and don’t forget, 4 of the last 8 CLs were won by Real, 5 of the last 8 by la liga…Real is the biggest club in the world….and hopefully Gvardiol goes there too…imagine for him playing with Benz, Luka, Vini Jr, Mbappe, Milatao…and getting paid huge bucks and living in great weather place like Spain…vs cold and dreary engerland….the choice is easy.
england is not the place for our guys so at no point should our guys go there, especially Gvardiol…Kova is the one exception to our guys succeeding there but in general our guys are better suited to Spain and Italy…more technical footy and its not all about the run around pressing like madman like england is…
Vrsaljko was injured throughout the World Cup and seriously injured for the final. It was expected he wouldn’t play but miraculously did. After that, his body was broken and never the same again. If sime could go back in time, I’m sure he wouldve made the right decision and been responsible with his body and pulled out of the tournament
Back in the crazy former days when we championed kerry straus for landing on one leg cause of a severely sprained ankle To take the us woman’s gymnastics team to a gold medal, vrsaljkos world cup brazen and irresponsible regard for personal health would’ve been praised. Fortunately our society has come a long way since then where we no longer demand our athletes choose between health and sports glory. It brought a tear of joy when i saw simone biles named Time athlete of the year for taking courageous actions and setting the example we needed
I wish all of our guys the best, and hope they’ll all get transfers that help them improve. However I do tend to agree with Maminjo. Some of these guys may never be good enough to come back to the repka. I hope that Vrsaljko gets fit, and finds somewhere he can play steady, but after all his injuries, I don’t think its likely. Grbic has to start before Livakovic. Whatever happened to Ivusic? I thought he showed potential too.
Ivušić had surgery I believe.
He’s out for a while.
Nice to see a diplomatic issue brewing between Aus and those serbcunts atm haha, Djokocunt’s dad saying this is about liberty and the whole world is at stake and serbs will be marching in the streets. Hilarious. Seeing a lot of Goran on the news of course but all in all, hilarity ensuing!
His visa is revoked
Djoković is not in the wrong.
The Australian government locking in their entire population is the much more serious problem.
Can’t imagine being a Croat there these past two years and never being able to see family again.
He is in the wrong and fuck him! When you go to a different country you follow their rules.
@maminjo you are in the wrong my man. Rules are rules
Rules are rules?
Lol. Tito would’ve loved you.
I disagree with you completely about us being “locked in”. But, i do agree Djokocunt isn’t wrong this time, he’s so obviously being used as a political football by Morrison to distract from his utter, abject ineptitude and the fucking mess we as a nation are in right now thanks to him. It’s just unfortunate for him.
Harsh on Livakovic… He’s had a bad run of form just like many Dinamo players under the former Coach. Saying Grbić took over as keeper is an overstatement. I hope that Grić continuously develops and reaches his potential but I wouldn’t count Liva out, even if he stays in the Prva Liga.
I like Marin Ljubicic and I think he should stay in Croatia for another year or two. The kid is feisty, smart and is always challenging defenders. It could hurt his career if he goes to a team where there’s too much competition and he rides the pine, the kid needs to keep playing!
In my opinion…and I feel bad for saying this…Vrsaljko’s injuries have really hampered his career and I really can’t see him making a full recovery and being the player he once was. I don’t think he will ever be that guy we watched but hopefully I’m wrong.
Livakovic at his very best is decent but other than that, he’s a backup and we need others to step up. I always felt Liva was a good shot stopper but he lacks quality with his feet and crosses (yeah, I admit that).
Barisic really does nothing for me. He’s 29 and is a fringe player, has never impressed me at all and if he’s fighting to be relevant at this age while he couldn’t win a spot when he was 24-26 then I’d say he can be a back-up for Sosa.
I’ve watched Bradaric play a few times and don’t really feel I can comment on him just yet, I haven’t seen enough.
The cream of this crop is definitely Ljubicic. He’s young, dynamic and hopefully he finds a way to keep getting regular minutes wherever he goes!
It’s a good top-5 list…but I actually prefer that a couple of these guys don’t bother transferring and we simply just phase them out.
Barisic is turning 30 this year, and we have too many good LBs already.
He’s not a bad player but playing him over Sosa against Slovakia almost cost us qualification.
He’s a depth player for injury insurance. That’s it. Not a rotation guy.
I just don’t want this guy giving Dalic any ideas (if he transfers to a better club).
He should be in the fold as an injury backup for this World Cup…but maybe already stop being called up after that.
Livakovic should not start anymore. He’s had too many chances. Time to try out the other guys in Grbic, Ivusic and anyone else with a pulse.
He could have transferred many times already, but there was no need to (since he was handed the #1 GK spot without question).
Livakovic remaining at Dinamo (while Grbic continues to play in Ligue 1) gives us justification to continue to try out Grbic and see what we have there.
It will also be hard to give Ivusic another shot if Livakovic is in a better league.
If Livakovic transfers, it might trigger Dalic immediately giving him the #1 spot again.
We have a lot of data on Livakovic. We know what he brings, and what his weaknesses are. A transfer to a new club won’t change anything (at least not in the short term). Would rather he stay where he is, and it forces Dalic to try new keepers.
If Ljubicic goes to Italy, his career is done.
Hopefully Dinamo or some team in Austria picks him up. Neither will pay 5 million though.
Vrsaljko has been put through the ringer since the WC. If not for his cross for the Perisic goal and the goal line clearance vs. England we would not have been in the final.
What has he had since then? 2 knee surgeries, covid, broken jaw…sounds like the story of Job (in the Bible).
Would love to see the guy catch a break and get decent run of games without some major setback.
But even if he doesn’t he was still a huge part of our WC run and gets the highest respect from me.
Neka ga Bog čuva i blagoslovi!
Bog i Hrvati
Plus the photo of him lying on the pitch with the flag underneath his head is an instant classic.
If Marin Ljubicic is going to leave, he needs to go to a league or a club that can help develop young players like himself.
Have a look at what Roko Simic has done at Red Bull in Austria, left Lokomotiva to a better team for development and has been running riot this season.
Another player is Lovro Majer. Although he left Dinamo at 23, it has really worked out well because of how Rennes can help develop players into becoming more up-and-coming bright talents in Europe.
Relating to Bradaric, Feyenoord would help get his career back on track. If the loan deal happens and kills it, we’ve got another good left-back knocking on the National teams door.