Mateo Kovacic bids farewell in emotional message to ‘legend’ after confirmed news
Mateo Kovacic could be a long distance down the midfield pecking order at Manchester City when he returns from injury.
Man City’s elongated season finally came to an end on 30 June when they suffered a surprise 4-3 loss to Al-Hilal in the last 16 of the Club World Cup, over 10 months on from their Community Shield victory.
Kovacic featured 43 times and scored seven goals in all competitions across a lengthy campaign, albeit his season was cut short by a red card against Bournemouth in Man City’s penultimate league match.
The start of next season will also be delayed for Kovacic after he underwent Achilles surgery at the start of June, and could end up as Pep Guardiola’s sixth-choice option in central midfield once he returns.
Tijjani Reijnders’ £59million arrival from AC Milan prior to the Club World Cup has given City even more midfield depth as they look to bounce back from a trophyless season, leaving Kovacic’s future in doubt.
Kovacic reacts to Ivan Rakitic’s retirement announcement
Although surgery on his Achilles injury will likely rule out a potential transfer for Kovacic this summer, the 31-year-old has developed his Premier League credentials during spells with both Chelsea and Man City.
Kovacic has also been part of a golden generation of Croatia midfielders in the last 15 years alongside Marcelo Brozovic, Luka Modric and Ivan Rakitic, the latter of whom announced his retirement on 1 July.
Rakitic has featured for Sevilla, Al-Shabhab and HNK Hajduk Split since his Croatia retirement in 2020, and will now transition into an assistant sporting director role with Split after calling time on his career.
Kovacic was one of several former team-mates to pay tribute to Rakitic, and posted on his Instagram story (7 July) to say: “Legend on and off the pitch. Thank you for everything.”
Man City exit necessary for Kovacic to continue Croatia career
Football Insider Verdict
Although he’s set to turn 40 in September, Modric is set for a summer move to replace Reijnders at Milan following lengthy talks with Rangers last month, and has shown no signs of ending his Croatia career.
Kovacic, meanwhile, was forced to withdraw from Croatia’s World Cup qualifiers this summer due to his Achilles surgery and may struggle to add to his 110 caps with increasingly limited game-time at Man City.
Reijnders will join Rodri, Ilkay Gundogan, Nico Gonzalez and potentially Matheus Nunes ahead of Kovacic in City’s midfield pecking order, and a future transfer is surely on the cards for Kovacic after he was one of the main candidates to leave this summer.