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AND INTER? FOUR SIGNINGS[/size]
Kovacic is 18 years old and costs 11 million: here is the regista for Strama.
Contract until 2017 for the Croatian of Dinamo Zagreb: “I am in shock.”
Milan – This is a big signing because everyone is speaking very well of him and because on him, there were Manchester United, Chelsea and Real Madrid. And now with him, Inter can reinvent themselves. Mateo Kovacic, born in 1994, is a pure regista that Inter paid 11 million plus bonuses for. For the player is an agreement of four and a half years until 2017. If it is true that Inter wanted to respond with concreteness and talent to the signing of Mario Balotelli at Milan, then they did it very well for keeping it under the rug until the very last moment.
Strama’s recommendation: sign him There were many names for the regista position. Too many in fact. Inter were looking at Lucas Biglia (Anderlecht), Jaime Valdes (Parma), Luca Cigarini (Atalanta), then rejected “the gift” of Fernando Gago who was offered by Valencia. If anything, this was an indication of confusing ideas with normal inquiries probably because at first, the Croatian boy (born in Austria) seemed difficult due to the competition that had been created for some time. But at the end, the gift was made to Andrea Stramaccioni because the Roman coach has Mateo on top of the list of all the playmakers.
Cannot say no “It all happened so fast and I am still in shock. I do not know what to say: I just cannot say no to Inter. I have not overcome the medical exams but I believe it is just a formality,” said Mateo. The deal, as mentioned, was closed with a true blitz thanks to the trusted intermediary Giuseppe Bozzo (who has already brought Inter Cassano and Schelotto) and the two transfer market men at Inter in Branca and Ausilio have beaten the 9 million offered from Chelsea, the 10 on the table from Real Madrid and Manchester United. The player – who was in Herzegovina with Dinamo – will be in Milan today. Reactivating the youth project.
Best talent in Croatia and “sacred shirt” A regista. An absolute talent. In Croatia, people say that after Boban, Mateo is the absolute best talent in Croatia. He was born to Croatian immigrants in Austria (Linz) and began playing for Linz until Bozidar Sikic – talent scout – saw him in a youth tournament and brought him to Dinamo Zagreb: Mateo was 13 years old. Calm, brave and very religious kid: this is what people recall about him in his homeland. He is a Catholic and helped officiate mass as an altar boy. Precisely for this reason, it is more a legend than anything else the story that saw him involved in a fight during a match when he was with Dinamo youth team: he took off his shirt because “it is sacred” before getting more involved in that fight.
In Croatian history The fact remains that in his young career, Mateo became the youngest captain in the club’s history at 17 years and 82 days old. Already has 12 appearances in the Champions League (scored in a 7-1 loss against Lyon) and scored in his debut with Dinamo at just 16 years and 198 days old. Close friends of the player said that until yesterday morning, he knew nothing about the possibility of leaving Dinamo evidenced by the “I am still in shock” statements after the blitz by Inter.
Play with flexibility Predominantly a right footed player (although his left is not… bad), with great personality, excellent vision and great acceleration, Kovacic has played throughout his career in a variety of roles: trequartista (in a 4-2-3-1), and playmaker (in 4-3-2-1). To many, he is similar to Modrid while to some, he has the talent of Prosinecki and to the rest, he is the new Boban. And at Inter, Andrea Stramaccioni will put him in front of the defense. Mateo recently had (and he did overcome it) metatarsal problems, as a child he had a really bad leg injury. All past. Now he is all Inter.
Source: Gazzetta dello Sport