3 Croatian footballers who have played for London-based clubs

Modified Jan 29, 2019 08:10 GMT

Croatia is a tiny east-European nation with a population of only 3.5 million, but their national football team are among the strongest in the world. They finished runners-up in 2018 World Cup, and have some of the world’s best footballers in their line-up.

Ivan Perisic, one of Croatia’s better players, plays for Italian giants Inter Milan and has been linked with Arsenal of late. He was also benched in Inter’s last Serie A match, and might be seen playing for the Gunners very soon. He is a left-sided winger with great speed and strength, and has scored 34 goals in 140 matches for Inter.

However, Perisic is not going to be the first Croatian player to play for a London-based club, should he ultimately make a move to Arsenal.

There are 3 other Croatian players who have successfully played club football in London:

#1 Luka Modric

The Ballon d’Or winner plays for Real Madrid now, but rose to prominence while playing for Tottenham Hotspur. Modric is primarily a central midfielder, but used to play box-to-box for Spurs. He adjusted very well to the fast-paced Premier League and performed consistently well for Tottenham.

Modric was signed by Spurs in 2008 and played for them till 2012. He played alongside the likes of Gareth Bale, Emmanuel Adebayor and Aaron Lennon for a very good Spurs side. He could not win any silverware with them, but impressed football lovers worldwide with his precise passing and work rate.

Modric was a lot younger then, and quite understandably, was even more industrious than he is now. He remained a livewire in the midfield and also contributed defensively. He also scored some stunning goals for Spurs with his powerful shots from the edge of the opposition penalty box.

Modric played in 159 matches for Spurs and scored 17 goals. He also provided numerous assists to their forwards. Manchester United wanted to sign him from Tottenham, but Real Madrid succeeded in doing so ultimately. He joined Real in 2012, and has been one of their most important players since then.

#2 Davor Suker

Suker was quite possibly the first Croatian footballer who became famous worldwide. He had a fantastic World Cup in 1998 and won the Golden Boot, scoring 6 goals. Croatia finished 3rd in the tournament, and Suker got global recognition.

He joined Arsenal in 1999 and played for them for a solitary season with reasonable success. Suker was a very elegant striker who could move very fast in the final third and had a good shot on him too. He looked effortless at times and could score goals with minimum hassle. He was also quite strong in the air and scored some goals with headers too.

Suker won the runners-up medal in the UEFA Cup 2000 with Arsenal. He played alongside Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry in the attack, as Arsenal were going through a rebuilding phase under newly appointed coach Arsene Wenger. Suker left Arsenal in 2000, after having scored 11 goals in 39 matches for them.

#3 Eduardo Da Silva

The Brazil-born Eduardo got Croatian citizenship in 2002 and started playing for their national side in 2004. He was an attacking player, who could play both as a centre-forward and as an attacking midfielder. He played for the Croatian national side till 2014.

Eduardo was signed by Arsenal in 2007 and played for them for 3 seasons. He was signed as a replacement for Thierry Henry, who left Arsenal in the same year. He was a good dribbler and finisher, and could also score with his head occasionally. Eduardo played a vital role in the Arsenal team for a few seasons, and featured alongside the likes of Theo Walcott, Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie.

Eduardo could not win any silverware with Arsenal. However, he played his part in making them a very exciting team to watch. He also scored 20 goals in 67 matches for them. He left Arsenal in 2010, and joined Shakhtar Donetsk.