Mateo Kovacic – Liverpool Scout Report

by  on  in All, Analysis, Liverpool, Our Thoughts, Player Analysis

The Situation

Source: inter.it

Source: inter.it

With the Mateo Kovačić to Liverpool rumour refusing to disappear and reputable news outlets such as Gazzetta dello Sport and Sportmediaset, in Italy, and Jutarnji, in Croatia, reporting that a deal has been agreed between Liverpool and Inter it does seem that there may be something to all of this.

Kovačić is a 21-year-old Croatian midfielder who joined Inter from Dinamo Zagreb in 2013 for a fee of £11m and has made 80 appearances in Serie A alone for the Nerazzurri. The most recent campaign is his most successful thus far, scoring eight goals in all competitions and totting up four assists in a below-par Inter side last season.

His Strengths

Donning the number ten shirt at Inter, Kovačić operated mainly as a box-to-box central midfielder but can and has been deployed as a deep-lying playmaker. The “Pirlo role”, if you fancy.

It is far from his strongest attribute but Kovačić is comfortable operating as a defensive midfielder, averaging 1.5 tackles per game and succeeding with over half of his attempts.

It is, though, his creativity that the young Croat is renowned for. He enjoyed a spectacular season at the San Siro last year, starting only one game shy of Inter’s top goalscorer Mauro Icardi. Kovačić amassed an impressive 59 key passes last season, making a total of 1,843 passes and completing 87% of those.

[Source: Squawka.com]

[Source: Squawka.com]

Even at just 21 years of age, Kovačić’s vision could rival the finest playmakers in Europe. Statistics don’t always paint the full picture, so here is an example of what I’m talking about:

Like all good playmakers, Kovačić is also a competent player running with the ball averaging three dribbles each league game – which is equal to Liverpool’s Phil Coutinho.

His Weaknesses

Don’t get me wrong, the sun doesn’t shine out of Kovačić’s backside, he does has his weaknesses but just turning 21 last month means he has plenty of time to work on them.

One thing he can’t really help is his height, he stands at 5’9” and a his aerial presence is near non-existent. If we take a look at Liverpool’s midfield there aren’t currently any hard-hitting physical presences there, we’ve capable players that’s for sure but looking at Marouane Fellaini’s dominance in last season’s 2-1 loss at Old Trafford it only backs-up my claim.

That being said, players like Coutinho and Kovačić are able to out-think their more physical counterparts and brush by them.

https://vine.co/v/euJnYFpm5at

This doesn’t always work though, as more powerful midfielders are needed on the occasion and with the loss of Steven Gerrard Liverpool should perhaps make a player of his physical capabilities a priority. Geoffrey Kondogbia, maybe? Maybe someone who isn’t already set to join Milan or Arsenal mind but you get the idea.

Where would he fit in?

So, where would Kovačić fit into the current Liverpool squad? Well with Gerrard making way and Lucas looking increasingly likely to follow him out of the door, there is room for new additions.

I’d expect Kovačić to go straight into Liverpool’s starting eleven, taking up the role that we saw Joe Allen occupy on numerous occasions last season. With his box-to-box tendencies and how excellently he is able to execute the role, it’s likely he could be used alongside Jordan Henderson in a 3-4-2-1 and a 4-4-2 formation, in midfield duo or as either side of a diamond.

Kovačić can occupy a number of positions in the midfield, which is one of his greatest assets, and one of those positions is definitely the CAM role which means he can be used as a back-up or alternative to Coutinho, as well as Adam Lallana. He made nine league appearances last season in this role for Inter and held his own in that position, providing for both Rodrigo Palacio and Mauro Icardi.

If, and that’s still a big if, Liverpool are able to acquire the services of Mateo Kovačić it will likely prove a blockbuster capture, similar to that of Coutinho, he will be a player for both now and the future. Kovačić would provide enough as a young player to feature frequently in Liverpool’s starting eleven and would likely develop into a key player for the next decade, and one of the finest midfielders in the world at that.

What would he cost?

With all the rumours flying around about how much Kovačić would cost and how high his wages would be at Liverpool, here’s my thinking:

Mateo Kovačić has recently signed a new contract with Inter which ties him to the club until 2019 and with Roberto Mancini hoping to build his Inter team around him it is clear that the club want to keep him. Kovačić’s current contract is believed to be between £20,000 and £35,000 per week, making him the  10th highest paid player in Inter’s roster.

Kovačić cost Inter £11m and they would hope to make a decent profit on him considering his importance to their squad, but in a similar fashion to Coutinho’s move to Liverpool, Inter may be forced to sell for less than what they’d want due to Financial Fair Play. The Narazzurri are expected to have another busy summer and will be forced to sell if they want to complete certain deals legally.

I’ve recently spoken with some Inter fans, who are friends of mine, and they value Kovačić around the £30m mark and they say they would flat-out reject anything below £25m if it didn’t also include an exchanged player.

Being slightly more realistic, I think the most Inter would get from Liverpool for Kovačić, barring a spontaneous bidding war, would be £22m. The least I think Inter would accept would be £16m, be that entirely in cash or a player-plus-cash deal including £10m-rated Lucas Leiva and around £6m cash.

A Liverpool contract for Kovačić would be a dramatic boost for him, potentially doubling what he is on at Inter. If you consider that Fabio Borini was [reportedly] given a £50,000 per week contract when joining Liverpool in 2012, you’d have to think Kovačić would be offered at least that. With Coutinho [reportedly] rewarded with a new £70,000 per week contract at Liverpool, you’d imagine Kovačić wouldn’t quite get the same figure. My guess would be that Kovačić would be offered a contract of at least £55,000 per week, maybe as high as £65,000 per week if the Croat drives a hard bargain.

So, to simplify, I think if Liverpool sign Mateo Kovačić he would cost us £22m and his wages would be upward of £50,000 per week but no higher than £65,000.

Finally, here’s a video compilation created by ScoutNationHD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvfkyGCiiaU

Steven Carson

Steven Carson

Journalism student at JMU. Sporadic football writer and radio frequenter.
Steven Carson

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