TalkSPORT pundit Danny Murphy has praised Manchester City for their recent signing of Mateo Kovacic.
After announcing the departure of Ilkay Gundogan on Monday, the Citizens officially announced the arrival of Kovacic from Chelsea in a deal worth an overall fee of £30m.
This has since led to one pundit sharing his thoughts on this particular move.
Murphy praises City’s move for Kovacic
Speaking on talkSPORT, Murphy said this about Kovacic and City’s deal for him.
He said: “I like him a lot and I think it’s a clever bit of business from City getting him for £30m because although he’s not somebody who will score as many goals as Gundogan, he is a brilliant footballer who is very, very good in possession, which is exactly what Man City do to you.
“He’ll get it off the back players under pressure, wriggles out of situations, he’s experienced.
“For that money, it’s a gem, it’s a gem of a transfer and I’m looking forward to seeing how he does.”
During his time at Chelsea, the 29-year-old scored six goals and delivered 15 assists in 221 appearances, winning the Europa League and the Champions League along the way.
Bearing in mind how the Croatian scored fewer goals in five years at Chelsea than Gundogan did for City last season alone (11), this is an area, as Murphy mentioned, that the new recruit will presumably look to improve on if he wants to be as close to the German as he can for Pep Guardiola’s side in terms of being a like-for-like replacement.
With Arsenal signing Kai Havertz from Chelsea for a fee of around £65m and Manchester United offering up to £55m to sign Mason Mount from the west London club, it’s easy to see why City’s £30m move for Kovacic has been praised by Murphy from the financial side of things.
Moving forward, if the new City midfielder can hit the ground running and deliver strong performances for the team on a regular basis, this will further highlight how much of a good business deal it was from the club to bring him to the Etihad Stadium.
