Mateo Kovacic

MadMike

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I think he's one of the most overrated players in Europe.

He's very classy and a good dribbler but he's 24 now and has yet to do anything particularly meaningful in his career thus far.
That's where I’m sitting as well
 

EyeInTheSky

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Fer

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Thiago is better for me but likely to cost a lot more, if Bayern are even willing to sell.

£44m would be a steal for Kovacic if it's true about his release clause IMO. 3 years younger than Thiago too.
As far as I know, Kovacic would cost more than that. On the other hand, Thiago would cost around 60m.
 

DannyCAFC

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As far as I know, Kovacic would cost more than that. On the other hand, Thiago would cost around 60m.
How do you know this?

I am going purely by rumours about his €50m release clause, which may or may not be true (I tend to think it isn't).

Thiago would surely cost more than £/€60m?
 

Fer

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How do you know this?

I am going purely by rumours about his €50m release clause, which may or may not be true (I tend to think it isn't).

Thiago would surely cost more than £/€60m?
I read this:
Los Blancos are not prepared to give in and allow him to leave though, with a contract in force until 2021 and a release clause set at 300 million euros.
At such a high price, any side who would want to sign Kovacic would be left with no choice but to negotiate with Florentino Perez.

http://www.marca.com/en/football/real-madrid/2018/06/24/5b2eab32ca474187028b4650.html
 

carvajal

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I think it's understandable that he wants to leave. I'm sorry because I like him very much but Madrid can not assure him minutes.
He will surely do very well in his next destination.
From the point of view of the club he seems a perfect player to include in some transfer and lower the price.
In my mind he is worth € 40/50 million. In this market 75/80
 

giorno

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I think it's understandable that he wants to leave. I'm sorry because I like him very much but Madrid can not assure him minutes.
He will surely do very well in his next destination.
From the point of view of the club he seems a perfect player to include in some transfer and lower the price.
In my mind he is worth € 40/50 million. In this market 75/80
Swap him for Thiago :drool:
 

giorno

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It could be an option and definitely for useful for us. I've seen several polls Kovacic vs Thiago,not very good results for Thiago(yet).
Yeah but those are the same people who think Kepa is better than De Gea
 

Fıstıkçı Şahap

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Why are we not in for this guy? With Chelsea's transfer ban, I think he'd be a perfect Herrera replacement. While they're different type of midfielders, he could add a different dimension to out midfield imo. He knows the league as well.

What our resident Real fans think of him? Will they retain him or he'll be sold to someone else? @giorno @carvajal
 
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MVBDX

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Why are we not in for this guy? With Chelsea's transfer ban, I think he'd be a perfect Herrera replacement. While they're different type of midfielders, he could add a different dimension to out midfield imo. He knows the league as well.

What our resident Real fans think of him? Will they retain him or he'll be sold to someone else? @giorno @carvajal
Apparently his move to Chelsea is almost done, for 50M.
 
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Thought their transfer ban would prevent a move to them, no?
As long as they complete the transfer before his loan period finishes it’s ok. It’s not the transfer per se that’s banned it’s registering of new players, and as he’s currently residtered to Chelsea, it’s deemed ok.

Complete fudge.
 

Le Red

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Casemiro isn't the best DM in the world, and as Zidane showed last season if you're good enough you'll play
Real Madrid defensive players will always look better there than anywhere else due to the fact that they will never be sent off. Casemiro breaks 3 legs per game and gets away with it, play him in another team where he can't foul as much and you'd see how much of a liability he actually is. I'm a São Paulo fan and I can't tell you he is not sorely missed.
 

Kag

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Kovacic is the classic looks good at football but doesn’t actually do anything player.

Chelsea would be better off making Loftus-Cheek a regular and giving the extra minutes to Mason Mount.
 

SquishyMcSquish

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I bet the Madrid board are laughing their arses off. Soon as they realised Chelsea had a ban and Kovacic was the only player they could bring in they must have been rubbing their hands with glee.

50 mill for an absolute nothing midfielder? My god, talk about laughing their way to the bank. A good portion of the Hazard fee paid off.
 

Black Adder

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Had him as future world class player in some thread years ago but don't think he'll ever get to that level. He can do the job for a top team, but his ceiling is/was much higher than this version of him. Shame he never reached his true potential.
 

::sonny::

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Hardly.

It's not even the 2nd worst Chelsea deal for a midfielder in the last 2 years.
Chelsea have a lot of interesting youngsters, even with a transfer ban, this signing is quite incomprehensible
 

MVBDX

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His main problem is that, while he's pretty decent in a couple of aspects, he hasn't found his best position yet. Basically been used as a utility player based on the manager's call at the time.
 

Adam-Utd

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Surprised they took the option but I guess they need the bodies.

Seems a great deal for Madrid.
 

Bwuk

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Was bang average for Chelsea. Not even sure they needed him from a numbers point of view.
 

giorno

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His main problem is that, while he's pretty decent in a couple of aspects, he hasn't found his best position yet. Basically been used as a utility player based on the manager's call at the time.
His best position was pretty clear with us, as a backup DM. His problem is that he trusts his dribbling too much, has poor decision making on the ball and doesn't move well off of it in attack. But he's fast and explosive as feck, has a decent sense of positioning, can track his man and to be fair his dribbling is great. Limit the amount of decisions he has to make on the ball, give him more time, and he can be a solid player. Hence why he's better in deeper areas
 

MVBDX

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His best position was pretty clear with us, as a backup DM. His problem is that he trusts his dribbling too much, has poor decision making on the ball and doesn't move well off of it in attack. But he's fast and explosive as feck, has a decent sense of positioning, can track his man and to be fair his dribbling is great. Limit the amount of decisions he has to make on the ball, give him more time, and he can be a solid player. Hence why he's better in deeper areas
I think it was clear that he's not interested to play as CDM longterm, he could play it well because he's so damn fast, but he'll slow down, and without that pace he wouldn't really be a good CDM either. He might be able to offer something like Khedira and do a better job at it considering his technique if he was more disciplined.
 

Ooge_

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When he played at Madrid i looked at some stats. He could not defend very well, thats why he is not a competitor for Casemiro (6). But he has also not the strategic view and passing range like Kroos (8) nor the offensive impact like Modrid (10). He reminds me on Verratti and de Jong. Nice to watch, but a bit overrated.
 

giorno

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I think it was clear that he's not interested to play as CDM longterm, he could play it well because he's so damn fast, but he'll slow down, and without that pace he wouldn't really be a good CDM either. He might be able to offer something like Khedira and do a better job at it considering his technique if he was more disciplined.
Actually yeah, you're spot on about the Khedira comparison.
 

duffer

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Done deal.

"It was an amazing feeling to sign for Chelsea, first on loan and now permanently. Chelsea is a fantastic club. I am very happy to be staying here and very proud to be a Chelsea player."

Story "accidentally" leaked on the Chelsea app! I thinks its a way to let people know there actually is a Chelsea app.
 

RoyH1

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It’s crazy how much money Madrid is making with players that didn’t play a role for them last season. De Tomás, Kovacic, Llorente. A 100 million euros. And they can still sell the likes of James.