In case any of you don’t know, Mateo Kovačić is an extremely talented 20-year old midfielder who for the last one and a half years has greatly impressed at the San Siro, the home of Internazionale. Owner Erick Thorir was speaking at a fans’ forum and he was quoted as saying “He will remain at Inter. It’s very important for us.” Clearly he sees Kovačić as key figure in his mission to get Inter “back into the top ten of world football.”

Kovačić is hot property in Europe with a whole host of clubs making inquiries about him this summer, including Barcelona who of course have their transfer ban now enforced until January 2016 and as a result tried to sign Kovačić last minute but the bid was rejected by the board at Inter. He is expected to remain a long-term target for the Catalans and they are not the only ones with interest coming from England as well in the form of Arsenal and Chelsea.

Kovačić started off his career at Dinamo Zagreb coming from the famous production line that has produce the likes of Luka Modrić, Dejan Lovren and former Arsenal striker Eduardo. In January 2013 he moved to Inter for a deal that was originally €11 million but it will rise to €15 million if Inter qualify for the Champions League. He made 13 appearances in the second half of the 2012/13 season for Inter although only 9 of those were starts. Last season Inter employed a new coach in Walter Mazzarri who said that Kovačić would employ a more attacking position for the season; he made 32 appearances but again only 9 of those were starts as it was clear that Mazzarri didn’t want to place too much pressure on his young shoulders.

One aspect of his game that Kovačić will have to improve is his goalscoring because in 46 Serie A appearances he has scored no goals, although it looks like he has worked on this over the summer because in the second leg of the Europa League play-off against Icelandic side Stjarnan he scored a hat-trick helping his team to a 6-0 win on the night and a 9-0 win on aggregate. This summer he also appeared at the World Cup for Croatia and even though his side’s campaign ended in disappointment after they didn’t get out of the group both Kovačić and the rest of the team shone in the opening game against hosts Brazil where Croatia were unlucky not to get a point or possibly even three after a couple of dubious decisions from the referee swung the game in Brazil's favour.

Clearly Kovačić’s teammates also think highly of him as well as both Juan Jesus and Hernanes were both recently questioned about the youngster and this is what they had to say:

Juan Jesus: “Kovačić will become one of the World’s best in a few years. I have great confidence in him and hope he has a great career.”

Hernanes: “I enjoy playing alongside Mateo but I’m sure we can do even better. He is a really talented player. He’s got lots of tricks and he reads the game so well.”

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About the author
Ryan OGrady
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim and Japan fan who lives in NI. Aspiring Football writer on all things European Football and some Japanese football as well. Email- [email protected]. Currently writing for Total Dutch Football, World Football Weekly and Bundesliga Fanatic.