If recent reports are to be believed, we could soon witness a Croatian revolution at the White Hart Lane. Tottenham’s interest in Mateo Kovacic of Real Madrid is now being complemented by their checks on Filip Benkovic.
As reported by Daily Star, our interest in Kovacic has been steady in this transfer window. The 23-year-old midfielder has been capped 36 times by his country and is considered as surplus to the requirements at Real Madrid.
It is a testimony to the bench strength and quality at Zinedine Zidane’s disposal that Kovacic could play only 27 times in the La Liga last season. Being in and out of the side has reportedly swayed Kovacic’s decision to look for regular first team football elsewhere.
Real Madrid are willing to sanction a move too, provided an offer comes north of £22million. Apart from Tottenham, there is some interest coming from Italy too with Inter Milan and AC Milan monitoring his situation closely. That may complicate things for Tottenham, although neither of these clubs has come up with a bid yet.
Kovac, of course, isn’t the only Croatian hogging our attention. The 20-year-old Benkovic is the latest on the club’s radar (Daily Star). The youngster who is contracted to Dinamo Zagreb is a first-team player at the club. The centre-back is very highly rated and is regarded as one of the hottest prospects in Croatia.
He joined the youth ranks of Dinamo in 2008 and is a regular with the national Under-21 team too. At 6 feet 4 inches, the tall defender possesses some great aerial ability, together with his ball playing skills. Tottenham isn’t the only side interested as Newcastle are also interested in bringing him to Premier League.
The report suggests that Benkovic could be available for £13.5million. He made 22 appearances for Dinamo and scored 2 goals last season.
What Does This Mean For The Club?
Benkovic is one for the future while Kovacic has all the attributes to slot straight into the Tottenham first team. With the need to strengthen the squad ahead of the season in order to compete strongly on all fronts, Mauricio Pochettino may be tempted to bid for the Real Madrid man first.
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