Man City agree £30m deal for Mateo Kovacic
Many clubs are making bids for many players as the summer transfers is online, Mateo Kovacic is close on joining Manchester City after the agreed a deal with Chelsea worth upto £30m.
The Croatian midfielder, is set to join the premier league champions for an initial fee of £25m. Chelsea are continuing to sell players as they look to trim their large squad for new manager Mauricio Pochettino. The fellow Midfielder N’Golo Kante had agree to join Al-Ittihad in Saudi Arabia.
Kovacic had joined Chelsea from Real Madrid 2019, initially on loan before signing a five year contract. Jude Bellingham had joined Real Madrid for 115 million euros from Borussia Dortmund on a four year contract.
The fee is understood to be worth an initial £25m guaranteed plus £5m in performance related add-ons. A formal announcement of Kovacic joining last season’s treble winner is expected soon.
He had won four major trophies during his time at Chelsea, while making 221 appearances for the club. The Chelsea allowing Mateo Kovacic to exit Chelsea, even to one of their premier league rivals is easy to understand, given had just one year remaining on his contract and at 29, had limited interest in signing up for the rebuilding project in west London. Man CIty’s Ilkay Gundagon move to Barcelona on free transfers through summer window.
It’s true that Kovacic’s impact in the final third has been modest at best, while his reluctance to shoot from dangerous positions has always been a curiosity given his excellent technical ability.
But it’s also true that Kovacic was never signed to be an attacking, goal-scoring midfielder, as a total of 18 goals in eight years for his three previous clubs should have shown. On other hand, Arsenal succeeded in signing chelsea’s forward Kai Havertz for 65 million euros.
Instead, the Croatia international’s strengths lie at the heart of midfield. Since he arrived in the Premier League in the summer of 2018, Kovacic ranks fifth for both completed take-on and passes per 90 among midfielders.
He excels at receiving the ball under pressure, by beating the opponents’ press and linking the defence to the attack – skills that are often overlooked due to his limited attacking output.
But it’s those skills that have likely endeared him to Manchester City, who follow Real Madrid and Inter Milan in adding their name to the glittering CV of Kovacic, who has already won 18 trophies – including four Champions Leagues – during his career.
Mateo Kovacic journey over the season
Mateo Kovacic, the Chelsea midfielder, has taken part in a strong number of the team’s Premier League games in 2022/2023, making 27 appearances overall and accumulating 1,704 minutes of playing time. He has started in 17 of these appearances across their 38 fixtures and come on as a substitute on 10 occasions.
Kovacic last featured in a Premier League game on May 28, playing 20 minutes for Chelsea against Newcastle United in a 1-1 draw. In total, the midfielder has notched one Premier League goal this term, and provided two assists. He has been shown eight yellow cards.
He opened his account for the campaign against Leicester City on March 11, scoring during a 3-1 victory. Last season for Chelsea, Kovacic made 25 Premier League appearances, scored two goals and provided five assists. Kovacic moved to Chelsea in July 2019 from Real Madrid, for whom he made 73 league appearances in total, scoring one goal and providing six assists.
Kovacic debuted in a Premier League fixture for Chelsea on August 18, 2018 as a substitute versus Arsenal aged 24 years and 104 days. Overall, in his Premier League career, he has appeared 142 times in the competition, with four goals and 13 assists.
