Mateo Kovačić is a Croatian international currently playing for Real Madrid, but could be on his way out in search of more playing time and Arsenal are reportedly interested in making a deal.
Linz (Austria) born Mateo Kovačić is a Croatian midfielder who is showing great signs of talent that is yet to fully flourish.
The 23-year-old started his youth career at Austrian clubs before moving to Dinamo Zagreb where he made his senior debut and played for three years before making a €11m move to Inter Milan. In 2015, after two seasons in Italy, Real Madrid came in, offered €31m and made him their player.
Kovačić has never established himself as a first team player at the Bernabeu, as the competition in the Real Madrid squad is fierce for every position and the player was often behind his Spanish counterparts and James Rodriguez who came one season earlier for €75m.
He did manage to play in 39 games for Real Madrid but almost half of those appearances came from the bench. Kovačić scored two goals and added three assists.
His international career started in 2013 and so far he has collected 34 caps for Croatia.
Would he fit at Arsenal?
In my opinion? Definitely.
Mateo Kovačić is a great talent and still has much undiscovered potential.
His years in Italy have made him tougher but not in a physical sense. He can hold his ground but he could use more muscle. In defensive work he puts the effort in and the way he started to develop was as a deep-lying playmaker.
In his youth years he would often make runs forward and leave other midfielders/defenders exposed, but with Inter he learned when to stay behind and play slowly and when to expose the weakness in the opposition’s formation.
He would be a great asset for Arsene Wenger and in pair with another midfielder, like Xhaka, the Gunners would have a firm but creative midfield that could exploit all the opposition’s weaknesses.
At just 23-years-of-age, Kovačić is the one for the future and could become a key player in the coming years.
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