Welcome Mateo Kovacic | Signing confirmed on a four-year deal

[blueparsman]

I think he will surprise a lot of people next season. I think hes a far better player than some are saying. I think its a great buy and look forward to him pushing us from mid to attack

 

[lmhblue1]

 

[kenbelly]

Looks a dude, cool customer, prefer his style to some bling stuff they all wear, Jesus I’m bored, hate the summer break, anyway I look forward to watching him play in Sky Blue
Up the Treble Winning Blues

 

[richards30]

Seems a very likable guy and should fit nicely in with the squad. Excellent player as well and £25m is nowt these days

 

[PragueBlue]

I think he will surprise a lot of people next season. I think hes a far better player than some are saying. I think its a great buy and look forward to him pushing us from mid to attack

You are quite correct.

 

[jimharri]

Seems a very likable guy and should fit nicely in with the squad. Excellent player as well and £25m is nowt these days

We'll soon knock that out of him.

 

[richards30]

We'll soon knock that out of him.

;-)

 

[dronefromsector7G]

We signed Ante Palaversa in January from Hajduk Split and sent him back there on loan.

Just looked him up and we signed him in 2019, loaned him to 4 clubs and sold him to Troyes last year

 

[eyalluvitt]

Just looked him up and we signed him in 2019, loaned him to 4 clubs and sold him to Troyes last year

Don’t they have a large blonde woman who rings a bell behind the goal, Helen of Troyes?

 

[Kamaro011]

This is just meant to be an analytical post on signing Kovacic. Obviously very happy he's a blue and will support him like any other player.

At £25m it seems almost 'risk-free'. For that price, we're getting a player who's been involved in one of the greatest squads in history (Madrid 2016-2018). The experience he adds to the squad/younger players will clearly be a benefit and he's still at a nice age where he has 5+ good years left in him.

I'm not convinced he's as good as his honours record suggests (for example, in his 4 UCL finals he only played around 30 minutes in total). Zidane used him as a sub late on in most games (preferring Kroos, Modric and Casemeiro). He doesn't score or assist that many (in 221 Chelsea appearances he scored 6 / in 109 Madrid appearances he scored 3).

Obviously, his role is more defensive, and seeing as Pep doesn't trust KP yet, it makes sense that Kovacic will offer Rodri more rest/rotation. However, N'Golo Kante has just signed in Saudi Arabia on a free transfer and was a significantly better CDM than Kovacic (but perhaps his age/injuries were a contributing factor). There were rumours about Kimmich too, who seems a more obvious choice for a Guardiola team.

Let's see how much Pep influences his performances going forward. I do think this is a good transfer but I'd like to see a proper Gundogan replacement (who's most comfortable breaking down a low-block and who contributes to attacking play) - I'm not convinced Rice is that player either - but what do I know... In Pep we trust!

Many report suggested that Kovacic is Gundogan replacement. Also he will not play in Rodri role anyway in our team.