Taking part in the Champions League for the first time in over a decade, Dinamo Zagreb’s November 2011 trip to the Santiago Bernabéu ended in a comprehensive 6-2 defeat as the Croatians had no answer to a star-studded Real Madrid.
“Someone asked me before the game if we would be overwhelmed, but I really didn't expect that!” remarked Zagreb coach Krunoslav Jurcic after seeing his side routinely dispatched by a team featuring the likes of Mesut Ozil, Gonzalo Higuain and Jose Callejon.
Cristiano Ronaldo remained an unused substitute, while the Zagreb XI contained a promising young midfielder who appears set to be the Portuguese supremo’s newest team-mate. Mateo Kovacic was just 17 years old when he lined up against the Spanish giants, and just over twelve months later he would move on to Inter, the Milanese club paying a reported fee in the region of €15 million (Dhs61m).
Viewed as one of European football’s most exciting talents, the deal was widely seen as an excellent move for all concerned, and Kovacic was duly handed the No.10 shirt recently vacated by Wesley Sneijder. With the team who won the treble under Jose Mourinho all-but dismantled, it was a hugely significant gesture and one in keeping with owner Erick Thohir’s vision of building the team around young players.
A shirt previously worn by iconic figures such as Sandro Mazzola, Lothar Matthäus and Ronaldo, it was a move that simultaneously drew strongly on the history of the club and signalled their faith in Kovacic. Coach Andrea Stramaccioni – who had previously been in charge of Inter’s Under-19 side – clearly shared the same view as his boardroom bosses, immediately inserting Kovacic into his starting XI.
By the end of the campaign he had made 18 appearances, showing enough flashes of the potential that first caught Inter’s attention to indicate that their future together could be a long and fruitful one. Stramaccioni would be replaced by Walter Mazzarri that summer though, and the new coach had a very different attitude towards his youngsters, routinely criticising them in public. Resigned to the subs’ bench, things came to a head following a 3-1 loss to Juventus, with the coach lambasting Kovacic for his “inability to adhere to instructions.”
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“It’s not my place to comment on the coach’s decisions or why I don’t play at the moment,” the player responded. “Maybe the reason is tactical. He plays a more defensive type of football, the kind of football that doesn’t suit me.” It seemed Mazzarri’s style both on and off the field didn’t mesh with Inter’s approach either, and the club’s hierarchy turned to Roberto Mancini to help arrest their continual slide down the table.
Returning for a second spell at the Giuseppe Meazza, the former Manchester City boss tried a litany of player combinations as he desperately searched for a solution last term, but could do little to prevent an 8th placed finish. Initially, handing Kovacic a prominent role, there were yet more glimpses of his vast potential, but for all the wonderful range of passing on show and his love of skipping past defenders with consummate ease, there was always a lack of genuine consistency.
Of course, the constant alternating between a place on the bench and a role in Mancini’s midfield trio or tucked behind the strikers did little to help that. His time at the club now seems to be at an end, after links with Liverpool, Barcelona and even cross-town rivals AC surfaced all summer. And, after two and a half years at Inter, Kovacic has created far more questions than he has answers.
The legendary Zvonimir Boban once remarked that his compatriot “has the potential to become better than me," and the 21-year-old certainly possesses an incredible sense of balance, technique and vision that separates him from many players his age. Those skills even prompted Giovanni Trapattoni to say Kovacic was “a mixture of Kaka and Clarence Seedorf,” high praise indeed.
Yet, despite regularly leaving defenders in his wake, he often failed to deliver the end product, registering just five goals and three assists in 2014/15. He has, at times, been the only player capable of getting Inter fans on the edge their seats but, having already invested heavily in the likes of Geoffrey Kondogbia and Miranda, the team has vastly improved already in pre-season.
The blow of losing their star prospect will be lessened by the fact Inter have finally addressed weaknesses in their squad and selling Mateo Kovacic is a small price to pay, no matter how he performs upon his return to the Bernabeu. For Real Madrid fans, they will hope he can finally fulfil his obvious promise alongside some of the most creative players in world football.
