Real Madrid Future Chapter - 3 today we bring you about Mateo Kovačić read and share your thoughts with us!!

 Real Madrid Future Chapter - 3 today we bring you about Mateo Kovačić read and share your thoughts with us!!

Chapter - 3

Mateo Kovačić

Age - 23 years
Playing position - Central Midfielder(preferred) / Attacking Midfielder / Defensive Midfielder

'Way to Real Madrid' :-

Started his career at youth academy of LASK Linz in year 2000 before moving to the youth academy of Dinamo Zagreb in 2007. Kovačić continued to play for the youth academy of Zagreb at U-17 level till mid-November 2010.
Kovačić eventually had his professional league debut in the 2010–11 Prva HNL away match against Hrvatski Dragovoljac on 20 November 2010, in which he scored Dinamo's fourth goal in their 6–0 win. Kovačić was only 16 years and 198 days old then and became the youngest player ever to score in the league. By 2011-12 season Kovačić had established himself as a regular first team member for Dinamo Zagreb and played regular first team football for them until season 2012/13. In October 2012 he was also nominated for the Golden Boy award. On 30 January 2013, however, the media, surprisingly, revealed that Kovačić was sold to Inter Milan.
Kovačić spent two years at San Siro. He registered 5 goals and 3 assists in Serie A season 2014/15. After a series of good performances in 2014/15 season for Inter Milan, Kovačić became top target for many clubs across Europe.

On 16 August 2015, Inter manager Roberto Mancini confirmed that the club was forced to sell Kovačić to Real Madrid due to Financial Fair Play regulations. The transfer fee was €29 million. On 19 August, Kovačić was unveiled as a new player by Real Madrid at theSantiago Bernabéu.

'Strengths as a player' :-

Kovačić can play in every central position of midfield and is well suited for Box-to-Box role. He mainly played as an attacking midfielder for Dinamo Zagreb but move to San Siro saw him often being deployed as deep lying playmaker. This role made him even better as a player. His stats in this position are not bad. He has an average of 1.7 tackles and 0.78 interceptions per game.

Apart from that, Kovačić is a good dribbler as well. His dribbling looks simple but is effective one. Kovačić is good at keeping hold of the ball. Does not lose possession very often. He is good at creating chances. One of the great attributes of his game is leaving multiple opponents behind when running with ball. A few simple turns and change of pace help him in doing that brilliantly and he does that on a regular basis.

His last season stats are as follows,
Pass accuracy - 91%
Shot accuracy - 45%
Successful take-ons - 81%
Average Duels won - 62%
Average Pass length - 17 meters.

'Weaknesses as a player':-

Kovačić is weak when it comes to physical strength. It makes him an easy target for opponents. His average height make him face problems when it comes to aerial duels. He wins only one third of all aerial duels.
He needs to work in these areas in order to develop his game. Of course, he can't do anything about his height but can work on his technique to help him with aerial duels.

'Can he be a great player in future ? Who he can replace in coming years ?' :-

Kovačić has shown great promise and a lot of clubs wants to sign him from Real Madrid. But I don't think Real Madrid will let go of such a promising player. He can surely be a great player in coming years.

He is being seen as an ideal replacement for another Croatian, Luka Modric. Replacing Modric will not be easy. But Kovačić has capability to fill the gap that Modric will leave in Real Madrid squad in coming years. Kovačić is a good passer, good chance creator and possession holder. Kovačić still has few years left to reach prime years of his career. And midfield attributes gets better with time and experience. In my opinion Kovačić will be an ideal replacement for Luka Modric in future.