Premier League and European Champions Manchester City have confirmed the signing of Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic as the Croatian joins on a $31.87 million deal. The signing was confirmed on Tuesday, June 27 evening as he becomes the City’s first high-profile signing of the transfer window. Pep Guardiola’s men recently won the treble of the Premier League, FA Cup, and Champions League and will look to defend their crown next season.
Successor to İlkay Gündoğan?
While City submitted their first official deal to sign Declan Rice on Monday, Kovacic was always on their agenda as they looked for a perfect successor for İlkay Gündoğan. The German made his switch to Barcelona on Monday on a free transfer while Pep and Co continued their pursuit of Kovacic. The former Real Madrid man has won the Champions League with both Los Blancos and Chelsea and will look to add to his trophy cabinet at City.
Kovacic, 29, brings a wealth of experience with him having recently finished as the runners-up in the Nations League with Croatia. He was also part of the national side that finished runners-up in the 2018 World Cup, having lost to France. He helped his national team finish third in the 2022 World Cup where they beat Brazil in the quarterfinal.
Josko Gvardiol of RB Leipzig is also expected to be part of the summer spree as there could be a potential exit of Ayemric Laporte. City will look to test the German side with a potential bid and could land Kovacic’s teammate in the coming days.
The signing of Kovacic could also mean the end of the spell for Kalvin Phillips at City as the English player struggles for playing time. He has been deemed surplus to requirements and could be offloaded to make room for Declan Rice as an English homegrown alternative.
You can now write for wionews.com and be a part of the community. Share your stories and opinions with us here.
For all the latest Sports News Click Here
