Pundit Craig Burley has suggested that Mateo Kovacic will be a prominent figure in Manchester City’s team next season.
Yesterday, it was reported that the Citizens had agreed a deal with Chelsea to sign the midfielder for an initial fee of £25m plus £5m in add-ons.
This has since led to one pundit sharing his thoughts on the matter.
Burley hails City’s deal for Kovacic
Speaking in a recent video on the ESPN UK YouTube channel, Burley had this to say about City’s move for Kovacic and how much game time he’s likely to get.
He said: “I think this is great business because I think Kovacic is a very good player, you look at the experience he’s got, you look at where he’s played, he will get you the odd goal, he’s very tidy on the ball, he’s not frightened to take it in tight spaces, particularly off the back line and we know City do that.
“He’s a good passer, got a good range of passing, he’s aggressive. To my knowledge, he doesn’t have too many injury issues, and the fee, that’s a B transfer for all those things because you’re beefing up your squad, Guardiola knows what he’s looking for.
“I think this is a great move for Kovacic the player himself and I actually think he’ll probably play more than people would imagine.”
Having made over 100 appearances for Real Madrid and over 200 for Chelsea, winning four Champions League titles along the way, this highlights the top-level experience he has under his belt that Burley mentioned.
With 142 Premier League appearances to his name, this would presumably make it easier for him to fit in at City rather than having to see him adjust to how the league is played.
Bearing in mind how it has recently been reported that Ilkay Gundogan has agreed a deal to join Barcelona as a free agent this summer, this could make it easy to see why City have decided to add Kovacic to their squad and how he could find himself playing fairly regularly next season and beyond.
While Burley thinks this is a great piece of summer transfer business from the Citizens, this will ultimately be proved once the 29-year-old starts playing and shows why the club chose to sign him.
