Mateo Kovacic

[redmike65]

Can he play wide in a 3 or does he have to be central?

Plays from the left side mainly.

Obviously it depends on formation but

-----Lucas
Milner---Kovacic
---Coutinho

would be pretty good, high energy pressing from the centre of the park.

[Lecter]

Plays from the left side mainly.

Obviously it depends on formation but

-----Lucas
Milner---Kovacic
---Coutinho

would be pretty good, high energy pressing from the centre of the park.

Henderson will not be pleased

[redmike65]

Well I could have put him in (options we love 'em!)

[frank the tank]

Can he play wide in a 3 or does he have to be central?

Brendan will play him in the centre of a 3. With Emre Can at RCB and Lovren at LCB


I suspect he will be the deep lying playmaker role that we saw Gerrard play in the title challenging year........ personally i would like to see the diamond return and end up with something like:


___________________mignolet____________________

clyne______skrtel_____________sakho_______moreno

___________________Kovacic_____________________

________henderson___________milner_____________

__________________coutinho_____________________

________sturridge__________________ibe__________

[Lecter]

Well I could have put him in (options we love 'em!)

You will have Henderson, Milner, Kovacic, Can & Allen (plus Lucas if he stays) for the midfield positions

Coutinho, Lallana, Markovic (Sterling if he stays) for attacking midfield positions

Sturridge, Origi & Ings for forward positions

IF we sign Kovacic I think Sterling is gone (and so is Lucas) imo

[red g]

You will have Henderson, Milner, Kovacic, Can & Allen (plus Lucas if he stays) for the midfield positions

Coutinho, Lallana, Markovic (Sterling if he stays) for attacking midfield positions

Sturridge, Origi & Ings for forward positions

IF we sign Kovacic I think Sterling is gone (and so is Lucas) imo

and Ibe too....

[Fosterbloke]

Skrtel needs to be demoted in that team. We need someone with great positional sense. They don't even need to be that fast, just someone like Terry or Hyypia.

[Cormack74]

From Gazzetta dello Sport which is the Italian equivalent of the Metro or some **** like that (incidentally the Metro are also reporting it )

Gazetta is generally not too sensationalist (at least not like Tutosport) so it may have some credibility.

[kev776]

___________________mignolet_______________________

clyne______skrtel_____________sakho_______moreno__ __

_______________Kovacic_____Lucas__________________ _

_____henderson______Coutinho________milner________ __


__________________sturridge_______________________ __



Bogdan
Lallana
Lovren
Orig
Ings-seh
Marko

Best I can come up with.

[The_weatherman]

Don't think there is any truth in this but I'd be pleased if there was. Kovacic and Milner coming in would make a world of difference to our midfield, would have preferred a DM though since Lucas will likely be off if this were true, which I doubt.

[tanner]

I've not seen much of this lad but throwing over £20m at another prospect in a foreign league seems very high risk to me after last season.

[Rowan]

Guessing he's the alternative to Clyne?

[Gray]

___________________mignolet_______________________

clyne______skrtel_____________sakho_______moreno__ __

_______________Kovacic_____Lucas__________________ _

_____henderson______Coutinho________milner________ __


__________________sturridge_______________________ __



Bogdan
Lallana
Lovren
Orig
Ings-seh
Marko

Best I can come up with.

I'd have Can in my starting XI

[Doc_Piptorious]

Just over £16m for him seems to be popping up in a number of media outlets.


He may be a young player, but he is far more experienced at 21 than the likes of Coutinho, Markovic, Can etc are/were at the same age.

He is also a more robust player than Coutinho or Markovic so that should be in his favour if the move comes off, and he has more pace and is more agile than Can so again that should also be in his favour in a quicker league like the EPL. He is quite nippy with the ball at his feet and he is well able to beat a player or two when he sets off on a run.


Only seen a few games here and there with him playing in them, but for Inter and for Croatia he did not look out of place against senior players and he looked very confident in his own abilities.

Think he could bring a nice mix of qualities as he has the dribbling of someone like Markovic, has an engine and work ethic like Henderson, and has a bit of Lucas in him with how he positions himself when sitting deep.

I reckon he might well be the sort of young player that could come in and settle quicker than expected.

[tanner]

“Kovacic will become a champion,” said Mancini. “He is young, but has already improved a lot. I think he will stay at Inter. I don’t think there is anything going on with him regarding a transfer”