Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic has finally joined Chelsea from Real Madrid on a season-long loan deal, the Blues announced on Thursday.
The 24-year-old Croatian international joins Chelsea as part of the agreement that saw Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois cross over to the Santiago Bernabeu from Stamford Bridge on a six-year deal.
Kovacici arrives with experience having featured regularly in Serie A, La Liga, the Champions League and at international level. He played five games during Croatia’s run to the World Cup final in Russia.
According Kovicic, “I am really happy and excited to be here at Chelsea. It is an amazing feeling. I will try to do my best for this club. It is a new league for me, the beginning is always tough but I am sure the coach and my new team-mates will help me and I am looking forward to a great season.”
Chelsea director Marina Granovskaia added: “We are very happy to welcome Mateo to the Chelsea family. He is a perfect fit for us this season, his style is well suited to how Maurizio wants to play and we are sure he will prove to be a valuable asset for the club.”
Kovačić has been described as a great technician with excellent dribbling abilities. He is considered to be a versatile midfielder, having played in different midfield positions.
He started off as an attacking midfielder at Dinamo Zagreb, but he transformed his game at Inter where he was deployed out wide and also as a central midfielder, functioning as a deep-lying playmaker, while being coached by Andrea Stramaccioni.
One of his trademarks is dropping deep to receive the ball and then driving forward, often performing his slalom runs.
Under the coach, Walter Mazzarri, he was often used in a more advanced position. Former manager Giovanni Trapattoni once claimed that Kovačić knows how to really reach the ball from deep and drive up the pitch like a ‘raging bull’.
Proven by his pass completion percentages, Kovačić is known for distributing the ball up the pitch.
The Croatia under-17 manager, Martin Novoselac, reportedly said of Kovačić, “I haven’t seen a youngster with so much talent since the days of Robert Prosinečki,” referring to his fast development and talent.
Kovačić revealed that precisely Prosinečki is the player he admired the most while growing up.
His compatriot, Zvonimir Boban, who played for Milan for over a decade, in an interview with Sky Italia (in 2013) said, “He has talents that could make him even better than me, he is an incredibly serious professional for someone his age.
Kovačić is a complete player. He is not a born regista but he is playing there now. He is a complete talent that can still grow — he has incredible potential.”Trapattoni described him as “a mixture of Kaká and Clarence Seedorf”, because of his style of play and technical characteristics.
Long-time Inter captain Javier Zanetti stated that, with the exception of Ronaldo, who had arrived to Inter when he was 21, Kovačić was the most promising youngster he had seen in his 19 years at the club.
He made eight appearances and scored one goal on Real Madrid’s route to the 2015–16 UEFA Champions Leaguetitle.
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.