Bargain €2M Fee Has Man Utd & Arsenal Chasing Croatian Star

Tariq Saleh 24 October 2011, 16:44 2 minutes read

Manchester United and Arsenal are battling it out for the signature of Dinamo Zagreb’s highly-rated young midfielder Mateo Kovacic.

The 17 year-old Croatian under-21 international has been getting rave reviews for his performances for Dinamo since breaking into the first team a year ago, at the age of just 16.

European giants such as Bayern Munich and Juventus have also been credited with an interest in the player dubbed the ‘new Luka Modric’ in his homeland.

But it seems Manchester United may have stolen a march on their rivals after it appeared that Kovacic has a preference to move to Old Trafford. ”United have made it clear they are looking at Kovacic in a big way and they think he is a future star,’’ a source told Goal.com.

”His age and price tag means January will probably be too soon but the feedback is that the player’s preference would be a move to Old Trafford and United are favourites to sign him.’’

Kovacic became the youngest goalscorer in Dinamo Zagreb’s history when he netted on his debut at the age of 16 years and 198 days and he has got everybody in Croatia excited by his talent, with some Croatian pundits even likening him to Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney.

Arsenal were interested in signing the young starlet in the summer, but were put off by Dinamo’s £10 million price tag, but it looks like Manchester United are willing to pay that amount for him and his preference to join United may hamper Arsenal’s hopes of landing the talented young midfielder.

Despite interest from Italy and Germany, Kovacic’s agent Marcel Kacinari is confident that the youngster will end up in the Premier League. ”I will not hide the fact there was interest from Juventus a couple of months ago but nothing since then,” Kacinari told Goal.com.

“It is most likely that he will go to England where the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United are leading the race. Dinamo Zagreb have done business in the past with several Premier League teams.”

Tariq Saleh

Contributor

I am a young and aspiring sports journalist and my journey into this industry is only just beginning. I am a massive football fan and I support Liverpool FC. I just completed a journalism degree at Sheffield Hallam University and I am ready to fulfill my dream of becoming a sports journalist and I know it won't be easy. I enjoy watching football from all over the world and I take a keen interest in all the major European leagues, not just in England. I have been watching football consistently for 16 years and I have built up a vast amount of knowledge on the game and I have always wanted to turn that into a profession.

View All Posts

1 thought on “Bargain €2M Fee Has Man Utd & Arsenal Chasing Croatian Star”

Great information.
WOW….£10.00 million for a 17 year old, thats well scary for the future of the game and really the money swirling around in the game is making it a very very dangerous situation.Particularly when the transfer fee is leaving the British game, although its good to spread the love around.
What I still cannot grasp is this age aspect and why he cannot be signed in the UK till he is 18, this is not the case in Europe where inter transfers are tolerated, as wrong as that may appear at that age.
Can any supporter share more details on this player and his character and style of play etc.Cheers.

Comments are closed.