Will Mateo Kovačić be the 5th Croat to play for Real Madrid?
After a whole day of speculation it seems that the sale is a done deal and that after 97 games for Inter, Kovačić is indeed heading to Santiago Bernabeu. Roberto Mancini, head coach of Inter Milan confirmed the rumors after Inter’s preparatory game against AEK: ” President of Inter, the players and I are all sorry it had to come to this, however the club must meet the conditions of financial fair-play. We had to make this sacrifice”.
This confirms the news that shook the football world early this morning since Real Madrid was never mentioned as one of the possible candidates, and especially since not so long ago, Inter’s intentions were to build a new team around Kovačić and Icardi. It was a well known fact Liverpool was after the young Croatian football star and the news that Real Madrid sent an offer that they just could not refuse to the tune of a whopping 35 ,5 million euros surprised everyone. This makes Mateo Kovačić one of the most valuable transfers from Inter, right up there with Ibrahimović and Ronaldo and the highest ever amount of money paid for a Croatian player.
Mateo will feel right at home at Real Madrid since one of his good friends and team members from the Croatian national team Luka Modrić is one of Real’s biggest stars.
