Mateo Kovačić

Mateo Kovačić is the midfielder you give the ball to when everything around you is closing in. Born in Austria and raised in Zagreb, he plays in central midfield for Manchester City and Croatia, and as of 2026 he owns four Champions League winner's medals, three with Real Madrid and one with Chelsea. His value lies in keeping possession and moving the ball, and his team, up the pitch. He arrived early. At 16 he scored on his league debut for Dinamo Zagreb, becoming the youngest goalscorer the Croatian top flight had produced, and at 17 he started a Champions League game against Real Madrid and that same season became Dinamo's youngest ever captain. Croatia's under-17 coach Martin Novoselac reportedly said, "I haven't seen a youngster with so much talent since the days of Robert Prosinečki." At Inter, coach Andrea Stramaccioni used him deeper as a playmaker, the home crowd cheered his composure on a Europa League night against Tottenham, and Stramaccioni hailed him as a "star for the future". Walter Mazzarri's more advanced role suited him less, and in 2013–14 he started fewer than half of his league games. Giovanni Trapattoni called him "a mixture of Kaká and Clarence Seedorf", a player who could drive up from deep like a "raging bull". Financial Fair Play rules forced Inter to sell him to Real Madrid in 2015, where Zinedine Zidane's preference for a settled eleven left him a part-time starter. After an underwhelming loan season at Chelsea under Maurizio Sarri, he joined permanently in 2019, became one of Frank Lampard's key men and was named Chelsea's Player of the Year for 2019–20. He later wore the armband in a Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund. His signature move is simple to describe and hard to stop. He drops deep, takes the ball and drives forward in slaloming runs, mixing genuine physical force with sudden changes of pace that carry him through tight gaps. Pressure does not seem to bother him: when opponents close in, he tends to slip free with a quick dribble or a pass around the corner, and when the ball is lost he is quick to hunt it back. The limits are just as clear. Goals have come slowly; his first league goals for Real Madrid and for Chelsea each arrived in his second season. He was sent off in the 2020 FA Cup final, and in late 2020 he was heavily criticised in Croatia after an error led to Sweden's opening goal. Manchester City signed him in 2023, and he won the Premier League in his first season there, later adding the FA Cup and the League Cup in 2025–26. With Croatia he reached the 2018 World Cup final, finished third in 2022 and earned his 100th cap in 2024. Zvonimir Boban saw it coming back in 2013: "Kovačić is a complete player."