Chelsea new signing hailed

Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata has praised Matero Kovacic admitting that he is excited to be reunited with his former teammate at Stamford Bridge.

Kovacic moved from Real Madrid on a loan move for the season earlier this week, making the same switch as Morata did last summer. Speaking to Chelsea’s official website, Spanish forward Morata highlighted that the pair worked well together while at Madrid, and added that he wants to help Croatian Kovacic to settle in West London.

“Mateo, first of all, is an amazing person,” the striker said. “He is a midfielder who is good with the ball, very technical. He can break through the lines with his quality, he can score goals and he has a lot of power in his legs. With him we will win a lot of possession and he has the ability to carry the ball into the final third and provide passes for the strikers. He’s a very good player which is very important for us because we need top players. Yes, he gave me a lot of assists in Madrid,’ he says. ‘We enjoy playing together and I’m very happy to have him here. I think he’s one of the best midfielders in the world. I always try to help the new signings settle in, I remember when I first came here my team-mates helped me, and now it’s time for me to do the same.”

On 16 August 2015, Inter manager Roberto Mancini confirmed that the club was forced to sell Kovačić to Real Madrid due to Financial Fair Play regulations. Speaking during a press conference after a friendly against Greek club AEK Athens, Mancini stated, “There are rules that have to be respected. I don’t think anyone wanted this to happen but we have the Financial Fair Play regulations to follow. We’re all sorry about it: myself, the president, the management and the players themselves.” Real Madrid also confirmed the transfer two days later, announcing that Kovačić had signed a six-year deal with the club.The transfer fee was €29 million, according to the financial filing of Inter Milan, in the section Management Report (Italian: Relazione sulla Gestione).On 19 August, Kovačić was unveiled as a new player by Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu, where it was revealed he would wear the number 16 shirt for the club.Kovačić became the fifth Croatian player, after Robert Prosinečki, Davor Šuker, Robert Jarni and Luka Modrić, to join Real Madrid

Kovacic was the fourth new arrival at Chelsea this summer following the acquisitions of Jorginho, Rob Green and Kepa Arrizabalaga

Four days after his presentation, he made his debut as a 70th-minute substitute for Isco as Real Madrid began the La Liga season with a goalless draw at promoted Sporting de Gijón. He scored his first goal in an 8–0 home win Malmö FF on 8 December 2015. On 3 January 2016, Kovačić received a straight red card in a 2–2 draw at Valencia for a foul on João Cancelo.

Until the end of his first season with Los Blancos, he made a total of 34 appearances. In the opening months of the season, he was used quite regularly by then Real Madrid boss Rafael Benítez, playing in almost every midfield position there is – sometimes central, sometimes wide, sometimes further forward. Since Zinedine Zidane replaced Benítez in early January, however, the midfielder’s appearances have become increasingly infrequent. With the Frenchman preferring to use a very defined XI whenever possible instead of the more specific-lineups-for-specific-opponents approach employed by his predecessor, there has been little room for Kovačić. He made eight appearances and scored one goal on Real Madrid’s route to the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League title.

He scored his first league goal on 29 January 2017 in a 3–0 win over Real Sociedad.He was a part-time starter when Madrid won the 2016–17 La Liga  and the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League. During the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League, he made six appearances, when Madrid won their third consecutive and 13th overall Champions League title.

On 8 August 2018, Kovačić joined Chelsea on loan for a one-year deal.