On June 23rd, Spanish newspaper Marca carried an interview with Mateo Kovacic in which the midfielder explained he’d made up his mind to leave Real Madrid, frustrated at a lack of game time with the club.
It was a shock, Kovacic was so clear in his desire for a move, and yet he’d not had a terrible time at Madrid. For the Croatian, 28 appearances, across La Liga and the Champions League, around half as a substitute, wasn’t enough and he wanted to be a prominent player so he could do the same with his country.
A day later the same newspaper reported Kovacic wasn’t going anywhere as far as Madrid were concerned. They knew getting in a replacement would be difficult and would therefore look to block any move.
Fast forward to August 6th and it was claimed the footballer had arrived at Real Madrid’s base but decided not to train, trying to force a move through.
A couple of days later and the story had changed to him travelling to London to sign with Chelsea on loan, as the Spanish media insisted there’d be no buying clause.
The 24 year old has found the prominence he was looking for, and thoughts naturally turn towards a permanent transfer.
Marca have once again spoken to him and pushed about the situation: “I wanted to be happy and at Chelsea I am.
“I just wanted to be happy and play matches, feel a responsibility within the team and I’ve found that at Chelsea. This is not the time to talk about anything other than playing and enjoying.
“I don’t want to think about what will happen and do want to be happy doing what I like, which is to play football every week.”
If it’s down to Chelsea fans, and likely Maurizio Sarri, then Kovacic won’t be going anywhere when his loan ends.
