#1 Mateo Kovacic (Real Madrid, 22)
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Dinamo Zagreb’s youth academy has produced some incredible talents over the years and Kovacic is one of the very best among them. He joined the youth academy of the Croatian champions in 2007 and made his senior debut for the club in 2010.
The 22-year-old’s exploits in the Croatian top-flight caught the eye of many big clubs and Inter Milan signed him in January 2013. He made 97 appearances for the club and after 18 months in Italy, he moved to the Spanish capital as Real Madrid came calling.
Kovacic changed colours from black and blue to an all white shirt as the 11-time European champions paid €29 million for his services, a sum that raised the eyebrows of many, but Real Madrid president Florentino Perez was more than convinced of Kovacic’s prodigious abilities and maybe Perez was preparing for life after Luka Modric as the former Tottenham player has recently turned 31.
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Kovacic has made 47 appearances for The Los Blancos but most of them have been from the bench. To be fair to the 22-year-old it’s not easy to break into the starting lineup when Toni Kroos and Luka Modric are ahead of him in the pecking order.
Kovacic’s versatility enables him to operate anywhere in midfield and he is regarded as a player blessed with an excellent technique. The Croat loves to receive the ball deep in the midfield and then make surging runs forward. His impeccable dribbling skills allow him to skip past opposition defenders with ease. Being a talented, dynamic, and intelligent footballer, Kovacic will transform into a world class player if he does complete justice to his talents.
The youngster has already made 32 appearances for his nation and is considered as the one destined to pull the strings in the Croatian midfield in the future.
Honourable mentions – Alen Halilovic (Hamburger SV, 20), Bartomiej Dragowski (Fiorentina,19)
