Almost a month ago to the day, AS reported Mateo Kovacic’s future at Real Madrid was under serious question.
It was a fair assumption to make, after Madrid signed Dani Ceballos from Real Betis, and saw Marcos Llorente return on loan from Alaves.
Should preference have been given to the Spaniards, then Croatian midfielder Kovacic would be set for a season more on the fringes than his last one. A potential exit was widely and repeatedly rumoured, and AS said the only club to have actually made an offer was Tottenham.
That Spurs offer was put at €25m, and whilst the Tottenham effort could well have been plucked from thin air by AS to dramatise their story, the Spanish newspaper said raising the bid to €35m could do the trick.
Even that sounded a good price for Tottenham, if they had need for Kovacic. The 23 year old Croatian is an excellent footballer, with a huge amount of experience for his age.
Since the AS article, things have changed in his favour. Some good performances have seen Kovacic’s importance soar, and Zidane is a big fan of the player.
So much so that AS report Juventus have offered €75m for the player… and this has been refused by Real Madrid. Tottenham wouldn’t consider hitting such heights for Kovavic, but again there has to be doubt on whether Juve have actually done as is claimed.
Earlier this month, Spain’s El Periodico reported Kovacic’s buyout clause is €50m. Even if that’s the case, and AS’s claims are nonsense, anybody meeting that would have to convince the player, and given he’s gaining prominence at Real Madrid… why would he leave?
This one looks dead for Tottenham, Juventus, and anyone else in this window.
