Sime Vrsaljko: Croatian starlet making waves across Europe

The likes of Arsenal, Liverpool, Marseille, Inter Milan and Tottenham are hot on the heels of 21-year old Croatian right-back Sime Vrsaljko but the highly talented Croatian international seems to enjoy his life at humble Genoa having joined the Serie A club only last July. Yet with each passing week the player grows in stature and his versatility across the right wing for Genoa has caught the eyes of the continent’s big predators ready to pounce on their prey. Such is his talent that Vrsaljko received his first international call-up for Croatia in November 2010 for a Euro 2012 qualifier against Malta. Although he did not feature in that game, the then Croatia manager Slaven Bilic gave him his first cap in an international friendly against the Czech Republic in February 2011 having been impressed by the youngster’s displays for Dinamo Zagreb.

Kwadwo Asamoah (R) of Juventus is challenged by Sime Vrsaljko of Genoa CFC during the Serie A match between Juventus and Genoa CFC at Juventus Arena on October 27, 2013 in Turin, Italy.

Capped five times by Croatia while being unused in Euro 2012, Sime Vrsaljko has an amazing ability to control the pace and movement of the wing play having the unusual knack of playing both as a right-back and further up the field on the right side of midfield and what more the boy has even featured in central midfield and left-back. This sort of versatility makes the player a perfect Premier League signing if and when any club comes with an offer to test Genoa’s resolve.

The 6ft1in player has height on his side and if we compare him to many of the world’s top wing backs, Vrsaljko’s versatility increases another notch as he is good in the air and managers can use him in set pieces in addition to taller centre backs freeing up midfielders and forwards to concentrate on other attacking threats. Genoa lie 10th in the Serie A but Sime Vrsaljko’s energy has impressed his manager Gian Piero Gasperini so much that he has warned Europe’s elite clubs not to test him or his side from the Stadio Luigi Ferraris as the player is happy to improve with the Rossoblu.

Croatia, over the years since its independence from Yugoslavia, has produced plenty of fine wing backs and full backs with Robert Jarni, Darijo Srna, Slaven Bilic, Igor Stimac and Vedran Corluka leading the list and with Sime Vrsaljko seemingly inclined to follow in those footsteps the list is certainly going to grow in the near future.

The Zadar-born former Dinamo Zagreb player has tremendous vision and god gifted technique to pick out his forwards with precise crosses and the lad is a bundle of unmatched energy who will not forget about his positioning while making a forward run. He can tackle hard and has a fine understanding of timing body movements to steal a march on the opponents. The tremendously athletic Sime Vrsaljko will be an asset for any Premier League team and with Arsenal not sure of keeping Bacary Sagna in the summer, Arsene Wenger is monitoring the Croatian’s progress on an weekly basis if reports from England are to be believed. His height gives him an added versatility which makes him ideal to look after an entire wing play which has taken added importance in modern football where right backs and left backs are as important as attacking midfielders in terms of creativity and opportunism in front of goals. Yet the January transfer window could be a little too early for the player to leave the stable shores of Genoa but come summer things will get pretty competitive across Europe as the player’s current valuation of 12 million pounds set to rise in the face Vrsaljko’s multi-tasking and technical abilities.