Mateo Kovacic

[GlasgowCeltic]

Him and Casemiro would be a force to be reckoned with in midfield.

When you think we've had to put up with mcfred and an over the hill matic, he's a vast improvement

former teammates too

 

[UpWithRivers]

Chelsea weren't in the game at Stamford Bridge in October until he came on,however I do get what people are saying about needed to bring in younger midfielders. We don't want a scenario the scousers are facing with everyone aging at same time but need to get best out of current team.

I dont get this argument at all. Only reason its a problem is if you wait too long to replace your aging players. Just have a decent transfer strategy and there is no problem.

 

[Real Name]

What about his fellow country man Josip Sutalo as a long term shadow/ replacement for Varane ?

That would be a shrewd signing as well. Wouldnt be as expensive as Gvardiol but has similar qualities and isnt far of at all.

 

[Lux Thunder]

I love Kovačić, he is the best dribbler among midfielders and he can progress the ball through passing, too. His work rate without possession is also very good, better than De Jongs for example. Maybe not a popular opinion here, but I truly rate him more than FDJ.

Those concerns about his age and our average squad age are nonsense - ETH knows he first has to win trophies to buy himself time to build something long-term. We have to make the best out of Casemiro, Varane, Eriksen, Bruno, etc. rather than waiting for the "next big things" to develop, a club like ours should have both short and long-term plans ready.

What about his fellow country man Josip Sutalo as a long term shadow/ replacement for Varane ?

Spoiler: Josip Šutalo style

One player I like and think can have a great career is Josip Šutalo from Dinamo Zagreb. He possesses all attributes modern game requires from a center back and I am sure he can step to the Top 5 leagues after World Cup, probably in the summer of 2023. This sample is based on fbref stats that count for his 675 minutes played in Europa League games last season + Chelsea game in the Champions League and the metric compares him to all center-backs in European competitions and Top 5 leagues.

Tactical & Positioning

Very comfortable playing in both three-at-back and four-at-back systems in different positions and roles. For example, under former Dinamo managers Krznar and Kopić he played very well in three at the back and for Croatia, he had strong performances against Denmark and France being left center back in four comfortably, despite being right-footed. After former Croatia manager Čačić took over, Dinamo is starting to play mostly with a back four again in the league but against Chelsea they played with 3 center-backs.

Without the ball, he is a very intelligent defender in terms of position and he reads the game very well for his age being able to be in right place at the right time.
Also, he likes to put pressure on opponents in possession and he can be a little bit adventurous in that and being dragged out of position, which he should work on more in the future, but he is more often than not successful in pressing opponents into mistakes. With his qualities, he has he can be both an aggressive, proactive and passive defender, depending on what the game and situation require.

Fbref stats:

Pressures:

‌Successful Pressures: 4.00 per 90, 77th percentile

‌Successful Pressure: 46.9%, 99th percentile

‌Pressures (Mid 3rd): 3.73 per 90, 63rd percentile

‌Pressures (Def 3rd): 4.67 per 90: 42nd percentile - bottom half rank but just to compare with the average number of pressures in Mid 3rd

Defending:

‌Interceptions: 3.20 per 90, 97th percentile

‌Tackles Won: 1.33 per 90, 81st percentile

‌Tkl+Int: 4.53 per 90, 78th percentile

‌Errors: 0.00 per 90, 81st percentile

‌Yellow Cards: 0.00 per 90, 99th percentile

‌Fouls Committed: 0.80 per 90, 71st percentile

All in all, his versatility in terms of positions and different roles on the pitch makes him a very valuable asset to every squad and manager.

Technique & passing

Posses great technique and first touch for a center back and can break opponent press through both dribbling and passing. Very composed with the ball, which is pretty rare for the defender, he actually likes to get attention and soak the pressure before picking a right pass or dribbling his way out. His passing is excellent in all kinds of ranges: short, medium, and long with the following rankings from fbref to describe his technique & passing:

Passing:

‌Pass Completion: 93.3%, 97th percentile

‌Pass Completion(Short): 96.8%, 99th percentile

‌Pass Completion(Medium): 95.7%, 95th percentile

‌Pass Completion(Long): 83.1%, 95th percentile

‌Passes Intercepted: 0.27 per 90, 99th percentile

‌Passes Blocked: 0.13 per 90, 99th percentile

Dribbling:

‌Dribbles Completed: 0.67 per 90, 97th percentile

‌Dribbles Attempted: 0.80 per 90, 93rd percentile

‌Successful Dribble: 83.3%, 82nd percentile

‌Fouls Drawn: 1.33 per 90, 96th percentile

First touch:

‌Miscontrols: 0.00, 99th percentile

‌Passes Received: 99.6%, 99th percentile


Bigger stage experience

Šutalo was an integral part of a very good Europa League campaign with Dinamo progressing from Group Stage. Also, he was excellent in both away games in Nations League against Denmark and France, despite not having international experience before. Pretty solid in a recent CL game against Chelsea, and defended pretty well, but Dinamo was possession-wise too much inferior to Chelsea to see Šutalo playing at his best.

Market value

The transfer market values him at 8 mil.€ and with a contract recently signed until 2028., I can't see him leaving Dinamo for less than 20 mil.€. At the end of this summer transfer window he was heavily linked with RB Leipzig as a replacement for Gvardiol, but both Gvardiol and Šutalo remained in their clubs for now.

Conclusion

Although he should be winning more aerial duels with his height of 6′ 2″ and should be more aware of when to step up from his position and when it's better to keep the line with other defenders, I think Šutalo is a great prospect and modern ball playing center back. The sample is small to date, but the early signs are pretty good and encouraging. Surely a player that our scouts should have a closer look at and he could be a perfect up-and-coming CB to provide some cover for Varane.

Really looking forward to seeing him against Milan today and hope he will play a good game. Also hope for Martin Baturina to make an appearance as he is also a very talented player and one to keep eye on for the future.

PS. Bumping an old thread but I couldn't find a more suitable one, so please move wherever it should be posted.

As for Šutalo, here is my post about him from another thread. He was better than Gvardiol against Turkey yesterday and played a beautiful key pass for the opening goal.

 

[Abraxas]

I think Chelsea are bonkers to be thinking of letting him go. So secure on the ball, you can give it to him anywhere. It's not that easy to find his technical quality on the market. Selling him for average figures just seems bizarre.

He's only 28. Prime of his career as a midfielder

 

[Maluco]

Take advantage of out of contract players at Chelsea bemused at having to play under Xg Moyes.

If you Can get that kind of quality for 30-40 million, it’s a no brainer in a summer where spending big on 4-5 necessary positions isn’t an option.

 

[SoCross]

Would take him here if available. No brainer really, he’s quality.

 

[croadyman]

Would take him here if available. No brainer really, he’s quality.

Oh yeah I definitely would

 

[Adisa]

Is he really quality?

 

[Gandalf]

I think Chelsea are bonkers to be thinking of letting him go. So secure on the ball, you can give it to him anywhere. It's not that easy to find his technical quality on the market. Selling him for average figures just seems bizarre.

He's only 28. Prime of his career as a midfielder

I think it is primarily a function of their reported losses which have been followed by a 600M spending spree. Although the spending is amoritized over 7 or 8 years they still have essentially built into their calculations that they need to raise somewhere close to 200M in player sales this summer to balance the books, failure to make it into Europe might push that figure higher. They have plenty of assets so it won't be an issue but after buying Enzo, renewing Kante etc. they have made the calculation that Kova is one of those they can afford to do without.

 

[Gandalf]

Is he really quality?

Yes. He would walk into most CL teams tomorrow. I am not certain we need him but by the same token I would be gutted if he signed for Liverpool this summer for example as he is better than anything they have in the middle of the park right now. He certainly is many levels above Fred, McTominay and Donny.

 

[edcunited1878]

This is why for me the new owners will most likely be replacing / demoting the likes of Murtough and put more competent individuals in charge to spearhead the recruitment and have a decisive strategy over the coming seasons. It's a really poor reflection that a new manager comes in and although the likes of Kane, Kovacic etc raise the teams performance levels drastically their age profile represents a very dangerous trend of lacking any foresight to build an established team over the course of time.

I think what Madrid have done with Valverde, Camavinga and Tchouameni United need to take a page out of the same book and build for sustained success not short term fixes. In 36 months pending declines and high contract negotiations it will be hard to shift some of these players with the ridiculous strategy.

If they do that, they would be destroying the continuity built under Murtough, not necessarily at senior level only but also at youth/academy level which is successful and strong setup under Murtough. The youth recruitment and strucutre is extremely important to the club.

The mens and womens sides are getting better in terms of recruitment and football operations/recruitment. You're looking at a very narrow lens and totally focused on the first team for mens.

Murtough has revamped the data science, performance, scouting/recruiting, and youth development as it relates to a bridge for towards the first team.

And for Madrid, they are in a position of strength to recruit those players and only need to compete with one other club in their league financially when it comes to recruiting younger talented players. And those younger players can carry more weight than others since their talent level and surrounding team is much better than all La Liga teams aside from Barca and sometimes Atletico Madrid. Madrid have lots of older heads and young players who have not only talent but experience for how young they are.

There's always going to be a mix of young and experienced players. You can't just bring in all young players and expect to challenge for big trophies in the PL. Build a winning team in the now while you have proper understudies who can hack it...Garnacho, Amad, Pellestri, Hannibal. Antony, Marcus, Lisandro, Dalot, AWB, Malacia. All 26 or under. No outfield player is older than 32. Average age of United is 26.4

 

[Lux Thunder]

Yes. He would walk into most CL teams tomorrow. I am not certain we need him but by the same token I would be gutted if he signed for Liverpool this summer for example as he is better than anything they have in the middle of the park right now. He certainly is many levels above Fred, McTominay and Donny.

He is exactly what we need in midfield IMO, a trio of Casemiro [ball winner], Kovačić [progressor] and Bruno [creator] would be probably the most balanced midfield in the league.

 

[Abraxas]

I think it is primarily a function of their reported losses which have been followed by a 600M spending spree. Although the spending is amoritized over 7 or 8 years they still have essentially built into their calculations that they need to raise somewhere close to 200M in player sales this summer to balance the books, failure to make it into Europe might push that figure higher. They have plenty of assets so it won't be an issue but after buying Enzo, renewing Kante etc. they have made the calculation that Kova is one of those they can afford to do without.

Pick some players that have more value on the market and less value on the pitch compared to Kovacic. E.g. the home-grown talent they have that is by and large mediocre.

 

[Gandalf]

Pick some players that have more value on the market and less value on the pitch compared to Kovacic. E.g. the home-grown talent they have that is by and large mediocre.

I believe the plan is to ship out a lot of players this summer. Mount, Gallagher and Loftus Cheek are frequently touted as they represent the biggest net gain in FFP terms having cost nothing to begin with but the club has signalled a pretty significant clear out is on the cards for this summer both to make room for the signings made so far and for the additional signings they plan on making in the summer. They have a hopelessly bloated squad at this point so this will likely be a huge one off clearout of players the new regime deems expendable, with the need to cut costs alongside the reality that you cannot keep a 40 man first team squad there will likely be a few genuine stars tossed overboard because they don't fit the Boehly plan.

 

[Abraxas]

I believe the plan is to ship out a lot of players this summer. Mount, Gallagher and Loftus Cheek are frequently touted as they represent the biggest net gain in FFP terms having cost nothing to begin with but the club has signalled a pretty significant clear out is on the cards for this summer both to make room for the signings made so far and for the additional signings they plan on making in the summer. They have a hopelessly bloated squad at this point so this will likely be a huge one off clearout of players the new regime deems expendable, with the need to cut costs alongside the reality that you cannot keep a 40 man first team squad there will likely be a few genuine stars tossed overboard because they don't fit the Boehly plan.

The Boehly plan is one thing, that's on the economic and strategic side, but surely as Graham Potter you have an input on the sporting side to have made plain who is important within the current squad. That should probably have entailed discussions with Boehly before the latter went on this spending spree to suggest who is dispensable when the books are balanced. I'd be surprised if that didn't happen as it appears to me Boehly had quite a thought out plan and eventual sales would have comprised part of it.

It's not quite like ceding incoming transfer control to a sporting director. We're talking about members of a squad that he uses. You're supposed to have a strong opinion on that, and I find it slightly bizarre he would land on Kovacic as dispensable as to me he's such a talented player and worth more to Chelsea than the sale for these figures. But ultimately Potter may have a completely different opinion on the player. Maybe he thinks with Enzo he doesn't need a player like Kovacic, but I'd say it's a long season, you can use a player like him in a variety of roles.

Put it this way I'd happily take him for 35 mill. If they manage to get more for him it would start to make more sense.

 

[Gandalf]

Put it this way I'd happily take him for 35 mill. If they manage to get more for him it would start to make more sense.

Totally agree. I think they would be crazy to let him go but a quick glance at their squad shows they have a number of players for his position plus links to Caicedo arriving this summer amongst others. He has 1 year left on his contract this summer and they are not even talking to him, sounds like they want to cash in.

 

[croadyman]

He is exactly what we need in midfield IMO, a trio of Casemiro [ball winner], Kovačić [progressor] and Bruno [creator] would be probably the most balanced midfield in the league.

Yeah very well balanced,obviously Kovacic hasn't the dribbling ability of De Jong but can progress the ball and pass it well

 

[Tarrou]

why aren't Chelsea renewing his contract?

 

[croadyman]

why aren't Chelsea renewing his contract?

Going down a different midfield road maybe

 

[Real Name]

Yeah very well balanced,obviously Kovacic hasn't the dribbling ability of De Jong but can progress the ball and pass it well

Havent seen enough of FDJ but dribbling is one of best of Kovačić's qualities.

 

[ForeverRed1]

Could end up at Bayern with tuchel.

 

[Real Name]

I love Kovačić, he is the best dribbler among midfielders and he can progress the ball through passing, too. His work rate without possession is also very good, better than De Jongs for example. Maybe not a popular opinion here, but I truly rate him more than FDJ.

Those concerns about his age and our average squad age are nonsense - ETH knows he first has to win trophies to buy himself time to build something long-term. We have to make the best out of Casemiro, Varane, Eriksen, Bruno, etc. rather than waiting for the "next big things" to develop, a club like ours should have both short and long-term plans ready.




As for Šutalo, here is my post about him from another thread. He was better than Gvardiol against Turkey yesterday and played a beautiful key pass for the opening goal.

Yup, Gvardiol won just one challenge out of 6 and Šutalo had a better game. His pass which opened up the Turks for the 1st goal was sublime.

 

[DickDastardly]

Way too many off games i've watched him play for us (croatia) to be thrilled about it.

On his day, he's unstoppable.

It's the fact that those days are very rare. His consistency is the problem.
We need a 7/10 midfielder every game.

But if Erik wants him, fine. Has the attributes.

 

[Silas]

Amazing ball carrier, but never thought much of his passing.

 

[Real Name]

Way too many off games i've watched him play for us (croatia) to be thrilled about it.

On his day, he's unstoppable.

It's the fact that those days are very rare. His consistency is the problem.
We need a 7/10 midfielder every game.

But if Erik wants him, fine. Has the attributes.

He has been consistent for both the national team and the club in the last few years.
Days of Kovačić being incosistent are long gone.

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Could end up at Bayern with tuchel.

That's been refuted

 

[Murder on Zidane's Floor]

Would be a class signing.

I like him, always decent on the ball - reminds me a bit of Moussa Dembele, the Spurs midfielder, hard to get the ball off, great moving forward with it, etc.

So long as he isn't spent/high mileage could be a great option.

 

[jem]

I would love to have him here, and unlike signing a City or LFC player, it doesn't sound completely impossible to get it done.

 

[duffer]

why aren't Chelsea renewing his contract?

What makes you think they're not?

 

[MegadrivePerson]

Way too many off games i've watched him play for us (croatia) to be thrilled about it.

On his day, he's unstoppable.

It's the fact that those days are very rare. His consistency is the problem.
We need a 7/10 midfielder every game.

But if Erik wants him, fine. Has the attributes.

Whenever I've seen him play this season he's looked slow and pedestrian.

My gut feeling is that his best years are behind him, and signing him now would be a bit like the signing of Matic many years ago.

I don't really see him as much of an upgrade to Eriksen. We need somebody a bit younger than Kovacic to compliment Casemiro next season.

 

[tomaldinho1]

Immediately improves our midfield so why not. If ETH has a specific first choice CM in FdJ who seems completely unbothered about a move here, this guy would be a great option. Different player but arguably better for us given I do think our midfield lacks dynamism and the ability to carry the ball.

 

[Solius]

He's class. Absolutely brilliant ball carrier.

 

[Tarrou]

What makes you think they're not?

I presumed he wasn’t as people seem to think it’s plausible that we could sign him

 

[Irrational.]

We haven’t done too well with Chelsea castoffs, hence I would be very reluctant to sign him. Mata and Matic were disappointments despite Chelsea commanding top fees for them for the time. Surely there are better options out there?

 

[Gandalf]

What makes you think they're not?

Heavily reported that they have not shown any inclination to offer a new deal and he has just 1 year left this summer. Typically that is an indication that the team is moving on and looking to sell, once a player gets into the last 12 months of their deal they can see that sweet free transfer money within reach and are very unlikely to extend unless they are paid massive wages. Chelsea seem to be going down the route of a very strict salary structure and are also expected to be adding more bodies in midfield alongside Enzo. Factor in that the new regime has made little secret of the fact that they intend to generate a significant amount of cash through player sales in the next window and all the signs point towards Kova being on the list of departures.

 

[Abraxas]

Whenever I've seen him play this season he's looked slow and pedestrian.

My gut feeling is that his best years are behind him, and signing him now would be a bit like the signing of Matic many years ago.

I don't really see him as much of an upgrade to Eriksen. We need somebody a bit younger than Kovacic to compliment Casemiro next season.

At 28 his best years are gone? That seems rather improbable.

 

[Lux Thunder]

Whenever I've seen him play this season he's looked slow and pedestrian.

My gut feeling is that his best years are behind him, and signing him now would be a bit like the signing of Matic many years ago.

I don't really see him as much of an upgrade to Eriksen. We need somebody a bit younger than Kovacic to compliment Casemiro next season.

His best days aren't behind him, opposite - they just started as he is entering his prime years being a more important part of both the club and national team. So I have no concerns regarding him being the "new Matić" and I think Chelsea would be crazy to let him easily go.

Way too many off games i've watched him play for us (croatia) to be thrilled about it.

On his day, he's unstoppable.

It's the fact that those days are very rare. His consistency is the problem.

We need a 7/10 midfielder every game.

But if Erik wants him, fine. Has the attributes.

Disagree with this, his level of consistency has risen last few years since he moved to Chelsea and Rakitić retired, finally starting games rather than being 4th choice for the club [Casemiro, Kroos, Modrić] and country [Brozović, Modrić, Rakitić].

He used to be a liability and "eternal talent" who we all waited to finally start playing to his potential but since he started to play regularly at Chelsea he is at least what you described, a 7/10 player, and clearly an upgrade on Eriksen in midfield.

 

[croadyman]

Havent seen enough of FDJ but dribbling is one of best of Kovačić's qualities.

Well in that case he sounds an ideal fit,however with Tuchel now at Bayern that could make them favourites to sign him

 

[jamesjimmybyrondean]

Chelsea selling Kovacic would be pretty stupid tbh. Even more so if they sell to a rival