Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly keen on Real Madrid’s Mateo Kovacic.
Croatia’s Luka Modric celebrates after scoring
Over the weekend, The Mirror claimed that Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a summer deal for Real Madrid playmaker Mateo Kovacic – a player often touted as Luka Modric’s heir for club and country.
Kovacic, 22, joined Real from Inter Milan in the summer of 2015, but has been a bit-part player at the Santiago Bernabeu due to the likes of Toni Kroos, Casemiro and Modric himself being major parts of Zinedine Zidane’s side.
A talented midfielder with great technical ability, Kovacic has started just 22 league games for Real since his move, and just five Champions League games as well in a bit-part role in the Spanish capital.
The Croatian needs to be playing first-team football, and with his representatives allegedly speaking to Real about the possibility of a summer transfer, Spurs could make a move to land him.
Such a move to White Hart Lane would again see Kovacic follow in the footsteps of Modric, having also come up through the ranks at Dinamo Zagreb – and former Tottenham hero Modric is a huge fan of his compatriot.
As reported by Spanish newspaper AS, Modric told Real Madrid president Florentino Perez in 2015, just before Kovacic joined the club, that the midfielder would win the Ballon d’Or within two years.
Croatia’s Luka Modric is substituted for Mateo Kovacic
We’re now into 2017 and, barring a stunning turnaround, Kovacic looks unlikely to challenge for the prestigious award, given to the most impressive player over the calendar year, but Modric’s prediction showed just how much the ex-Spurs ace thinks of Kovacic.
A move could cost Spurs close to £22million, but Kovacic has bags of potential as well as Modric’s seal of approval, and if Mauricio Pochettino wants to land a playmaker who can dictate the game for years to come, then Kovacic should be near the top of his wish list, with first-team football at White Hart Lane one way to bring Modric’s Ballon d’Or prediction closer to a reality.
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