A lot of people were surprised when it was announced that Chelsea had signed Mateo Kovacic on a season long loan from Real Madrid.

Not that they’d brought the talented Croatian in but for the fact that they’d done a deal with the La Liga giants without putting in an ‘option to buy’ clause into the deal,  as reported by Madrid based media outlet Marca.

Kovacic has taken to life in the Premier League like a duck to water. He looks very assured in a midfield three alongside Jorginho and N’Golo Kante.

His ability in transitioning the ball from defensive/midfield positions to attacking areas is particularly pleasing for the Blues faithful.

Under new boss Maurizio Sarri, Chelsea look to play quick, attacking and efficient football and Kovacic is very well suited to the style the Italian manager has implemented at Stamford Bridge.

The Croatian international is very good on the ball and his passing has been exceptional so far in a Blues jersey.

Only Manchester City defender John Stones has a better passing success rate than Mateo’s 94.3% average in seven Premier League appearances. On average the twenty-four year old midfielder is also making around 50 passes per game.

He also created an assist for Eden Hazard during Chelsea’s 1-1 draw with fellow league title challengers Liverpool. Getting the ball to Hazard, in the final third, as quickly as possible is key to Chelsea’s success so far this term and Mateo and Jorginho are big components in that happening effectively.

The loanee has also shown that he can remain unflustered in tight positions and that he can keep the ball when faced with stiff challenges from the opposition.

The central midfielder still has improvements to make within his game.

A big one needs to be for the player himself to score more goals. He has the engine and the footballing brain to get forward at the right times and to get into the perfect positions that should allow him to score more often. Hopefully that will come as he gets more game time under Sarri.

For me, the former Inter Milan man is already ahead of fellow midfield teammates Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek and I don’t think that will change between now and the end fo the current campaign.

All in all, you have got to think that Chelsea would want to keep Mateo Kovacic on a permanent basis. The player himself suggested that he’d prefer to leave Real at the end of last season:

“I think it’s best for me to go to another club where I will have the chance to play regularly as a starter.”

On that basis I think he’d much prefer to stay on at The Bridge rather than return to Spain’s capital and start all over again with Los Blancos come next season.

Maybe Madrid see his longterm future at the Bernabeu but I’m not sure that’s the case. I’d be more inclined to think that Florentino Perez will make Mateo a pawn in a possible Real move for Hazard next summer.

I think Chelsea will rue not getting a deal done in August that suited them better and next summer could be a long one if they hope to secure Kovacic’s services on a full time basis. Maybe it will be a case of enjoying him now but don’t get too attached!

Posted on October 10th, 2018 by scott
Filed under: Article