Mateo Kovačić

[blaugrana1987]

The only way 70 M would be fair for kovacic would be in a scenario where he is equal in ability to Verratti but the reality is Kova is miles below Verratti in terms of ability and experience. He is not even barca good IMO, i rate Rafinha higher than him for instance.
Gundogan at 40 M is much better than kovacic at 40 M let alone 70 M.
And atleast Gundogan has played at high level before and was at some point among the best CMs around and if the pros think he can regain his form then he is the best option.
Kovacic at 70 M . Has got to be among the worst deals ever, no offence

Kovacic is much more talented then Rafinha. He migh be in worse form (although Rafinha isnt shining either), but his ability on ball and vision no doubt better. Kovacic was in every top 5 wonderkid lists in last 2 year, Rafinha was nowhere.

Now that doesnt mean he will succed, but it does mean gambling with him could prove to be jackpot.

 

[DonAK]

How on earth is Pogba for 100-120m worse than Kovacic for 70m?!!! Not to forget both are crazy enough as it is

Pogba has proven more than Kovacic and is also the more hyped player and a star for his national team and one of their most important players. If Pogba fails at Barca then we'll still recoup a lot of that transfer money while if Kovacic don't make it, we're bound to lose a lot on him.

 

[Gasgas]

Kovacic is much more talented then Rafinha. He migh be in worse form (although Rafinha isnt shining either), but his ability on ball and vision no doubt better. Kovacic was in every top 5 wonderkid lists in last 2 year, Rafinha was nowhere.

Now that doesnt mean he will succed, but it does mean gambling with him could prove to be jackpot.

I disagree
Wasnt raffinha one of the best players in la liga last season? And no i still think rafinha is more talented and we dont need to add a player in poorer form and not even barca starting material for 70 M
I am against gambling for players especially if the talent we are speaking of is of kovacic's level. Let's buy players that we need and can use who are experienced and in the right age grup lie gundgan pogba koke etc

 

[DonAK]

Rafinha was voted as the best young player of La Liga last season and Deulofeu and even Januzaj featured in those wonderkid lists.

I think Kovacic is an intriguing prospect along with the likes of Tielemans and Oliver Torres, but I don't think he's better than Pogba and if we're going to pay a crazy fee for either of them(don't think Kovacic and Inter will command that big of a fee though), then I'll go for Pogba.

 

[Trickykid]

Kovacic was in every top 5 wonderkid lists in last 2 year, Rafinha was nowhere.

And meanwhile, in the real world, Rafinha was awarded with breakthrough player of La Liga last season, whereas Kovacic' only personal honor (as far as I can tell) was Croatian talent of the year 4 seasons ago...

 

[blaugrana1987]

Well, Pogba is certainly better then Kovacic. He is already established star and will go for 70 something millions. Kovacic wont. Anything more then 30m for Kova is too much on his current form. His talent and prospect are promising, very promising, but not currently.

As of Rafinha, he admitedly is very good young player but he has shown nothing this year for Barc to consider him Iniesta replacament. Kovacic is closest thing to Andres, and frankly is much better then Rafinha. I know we like our young players but all that Rafinha showed this year is good dribbling and alot of running. His vision and playmaking abilities are far from in form Kovacic.

 

[blaugrana1987]

And meanwhile, in the real world, Rafinha was awarded with breakthrough player of La Liga last season, whereas Kovacic' only personal honor (as far as I can tell) was Croatian talent of the year 4 seasons ago...

Well Bojan was also breakthrough talent in La Liga and he is currently playing in PL 2nd fiddle team.

On basis of this season, with good playing time, Rafinha has shown that he is not even close to be 1st choice for Barcelona once Iniesta finally declines too much.

There is a reason why Barcelona wanted Kovacic last summer, as did Utd and Real, and why we still want him now.

 

[Flavia]

If the options are Pogba for 100m and Kovacic for 70m, I'd choose Pogba. He at least would have a good resale value.

 

[Gasgas]

Well, Pogba is certainly better then Kovacic. He is already established star and will go for 70 something millions. Kovacic wont. Anything more then 30m for Kova is too much on his current form. His talent and prospect are promising, very promising, but not currently.

As of Rafinha, he admitedly is very good young player but he has shown nothing this year for Barc to consider him Iniesta replacament. Kovacic is closest thing to Andres, and frankly is much better then Rafinha. I know we like our young players but all that Rafinha showed this year is good dribbling and alot of running. His vision and playmaking abilities are far from in form Kovacic.

Has kovacic shown anything that makes him look like an iniesta replacement? You said it yourself that he has been in poor form. Also refer to posts 214 and 215 by DonAK and TrickyKid.
Rafinha has been deemed better, and the way he plays passes the eye-test as well.
Again why would we want kovacic while we have Rafinha in the team? Rafinha is better and farther in his level of development, and has experience with barca and has already played with us and has more synergy with team mates, and his role is increasing and he has very good acquaintance with coach and so on and so on.

I am sorry but i think buying "wonderkids" for the first team is a bad idea. We need players who can start for us, and let rafinha samper and co be the wonderkids

 

[Trickykid]

Well Bojan was also breakthrough talent in La Liga and he is currently playing in PL 2nd fiddle team.

On basis of this season, with good playing time, Rafinha has shown that he is not even close to be 1st choice for Barcelona once Iniesta finally declines too much.

There is a reason why Barcelona wanted Kovacic last summer, as did Utd and Real, and why we still want him now.

Yeah, and Freddy Adu used to feature in a plethora of your wonderkids lists aswell. Your point being?

Only the daft would discard Rafinha this early. Sure, he's had bad games, but he's also had great games - exactly like just about every talented youngster out there. He's rough around the edges still, but his talent is obvious to most.

 

[Jombi]

How on earth is Pogba for 100-120m worse than Kovacic for 70m?!!! Not to forget both are crazy enough as it is

Pogba has proven more than Kovacic and is also the more hyped player and a star for his national team and one of their most important players. If Pogba fails at Barca then we'll still recoup a lot of that transfer money while if Kovacic don't make it, we're bound to lose a lot on him.

I agree, 120m for Pogba or 70m for Kovacic are both horrible deals, but if we assess the sporting aspects of the deal, I think Kovacic is a player that fits our style better than Pogba. So I think Kovacic has less of a chance of failing than Pogba. So for that reason I would prefer Kovacic.

I am not so sure we would be able to recoup alot of money on Pogba. People said the same about Ibrahimovic, when we paid 70m for him back in 2009, and gave him a massive contract, but we got rid of him after a year and in the end got just 24m for him. Pogba will demand a huge salary and long contract, just like Ibra had and that will reduce the transfer fee we will be able to fetch IMO. If we buy Pogba for 120m and he flops big time, we probably will get less than 30m for him if we sell. We only got 30m for Cesc and he already had a fantastic reputation in the Premier League, and Pogba could be a much bigger flop than Cesc was for us.

 

[Jombi]

Has kovacic shown anything that makes him look like an iniesta replacement? You said it yourself that he has been in poor form. Also refer to posts 214 and 215 by DonAK and TrickyKid.
Rafinha has been deemed better, and the way he plays passes the eye-test as well.
Again why would we want kovacic while we have Rafinha in the team? Rafinha is better and farther in his level of development, and has experience with barca and has already played with us and has more synergy with team mates, and his role is increasing and he has very good acquaintance with coach and so on and so on.

I am sorry but i think buying "wonderkids" for the first team is a bad idea. We need players who can start for us, and let rafinha samper and co be the wonderkids

Rafinha isnt a wonderkid anymore IMO (if he ever was it). He is one month older than Pogba.

 

[StarLord]

If the options are Pogba for 100m and Kovacic for 70m, I'd choose Pogba. He at least would have a good resale value.

Hahaha, what?

I am not laughing at you by the way, but are these prices remotely for real? 100m for Pogba? I mean what has he done up until now to warrant such a gargantuan price tag? That is more than we paid for Neymar ffs!

As for Kovacic for 70m!!! I am lost for words.

 

[Jombi]

Hahaha, what?

I am not laughing at you by the way, but are these prices remotely for real? 100m for Pogba? I mean what has he done up until now to warrant such a gargantuan price tag? That is more than we paid for Neymar ffs!

As for Kovacic for 70m!!! I am lost for words.

Rumour has it that we paid 100m for Neymar 2 years ago and he had only a year left on his contract. Thats crazy, as players with only a year left usually reduce the transfer fee by half (even if they are more in demand because of short contract).

 

[Flavia]

Hahaha, what?

I am not laughing at you by the way, but are these prices remotely for real? 100m for Pogba? I mean what has he done up until now to warrant such a gargantuan price tag? That is more than we paid for Neymar ffs!

As for Kovacic for 70m!!! I am lost for words.

It's the current insanely inflated market. Juventus and Raiola have stated he won't be sold for less than that.