Kovacic Joined Chelsea, Real Madrid Looking for Midfielder

DBasia.news – The summer transfer market is getting intense at the beginning of August, especially in England. The summer transfer market will be closed sooner there due to the earlier Premier League schedule this weekend. So, for England clubs, they will finish the player transfer before the end of the transfer market on August 9, 2019, 11 pm.

Chelsea are doing it by pursuing the arrival of Croatian midfielder from Real Madrid, Mateo Kovacic. The 24-year-old player was reported absent from the training to left the club since he seldom played during the past three years with El Real.

The Blues took the opportunity to loan Kovacic and release Tiemoue Bakayoko to AC Milan. Reported by Goal (8/8), Kovacic will soon do the medical review with Chelsea along with Bakayoko’s exit. Julen Lopetegui, Madrid coach, also confirmed the news of Kovacic departure.

“Mateo has said he wants to leave, I’ve said he is an important player. There’s nothing 100 percent certain. If he wants to leave, we’ll look to find solutions,” Lopetegui said after the preseason match Madrid Vs Roma.

“Obviously if Mateo does leave, we’d look for players of his level. We need to have a balanced team and he’s an important player.”

Kovacic’s exit is just about time. For Chelsea, Kovacic will be the second recruitment after Jorginho from Napoli. Kovacic is not only qualified, but he has plenty of experiences in achieving 3 Champions League titles, 1 LaLiga, Spain Super Cup, 2 UEFA Super Cup, and 2 Interclub World Cup,

Kovacic’s Successor Candidate

Lopetegui said that Madrid will look for the successor with equal playing style like Kovacic. It means the new midfielder of Real Madrid should be qualified and experienced, also ever played in international level with the national team.

AS reported two strong candidates to replace Kovacic are Thiago Alcantara (Bayern Munchen) and Miralem Pjanic (Juventus). Thiago played in Barcelona in 2009-2013. But Madrid won’t be easy to get him. Besides the rivalry and the Barcelona blood, Bayern also lost Arturo Vidal to Barcelona.

Same like Thiago, Vidal also has the position as the central midfielder and won’t be easily released by Bavaria. So, the most possible option is to recruit Pjanic who is the long-target of Madrid.

But it also won’t be easy to get the Bosnia Herzegovinan midfielder since the high price tag, around 80 million euro. Pjanic, 28, is considered as the right profile to play in Madrid due to his ability to control the ball in the central field. He can also become the successor for Luka Modric who is now 32.