Tidy player and would keep as long as he’s not playing AM. I would worry about where the creativity comes from if he formed a 2 with Kante. Also where this leaves us when the transfer ban is lifted as we need players that can score and create things as Kante doesn’t do this. You need 2 of your midfielders to be inputting something attacking wise really.

4 minutes ago, Croat said:

Here in Croatia, he is always considered very talented but he simply dont deliver... And that story is constantly repeated. I followed him through his entire career. In Dinamo, he was very good, exceptional talent. I even played against him ? In Inter, he was very good with ball, had some amazing runs through midfield. But after he joined Real, it seems like he lost all of his confidence and he just constantly dissapoints, even when playing in national team. Second half against arsenal in baku, he was very good. If he can play like that on regular basis, this will be steal.

My opinion is that this transfer is mistake, he is fourth option in midfield (after kante, RLC and jorginho). Lamps, if appointed, should give Mount chance until RLC returns. I hope that he will prove me wrong. Only positive i see from this transfer is that he can play in Jorginho role, better than any other our midfielder.

The frustrating thing is its obvious he has enough technical ability to be a good player. Sadly, your years following him and your very fair and  balanced view, shows he's a player who's seriously lost his way.

15 minutes ago, Dixons said:

There's plenty of players in his posiion who score & create goals, or at least try. We even have two in our squad.  As a fan, you and others are entitled to want him to stay, just as i'm entitled to think that after having a good look at him, to then go and sign him is the worst transfer deal we've ever made!   So,lets sit back and watch our midfield score 6 goals (one a penalty) and go and put the blame on ohers.

You’re saying “his position” and by that I’m sure you mean attacking midfield, so of course if you think he’s an attacking midfielder then you’ll be disappointed with his goal output, and there will be natural AMs that score many more goals than him.  The thing is, he’s not an attacking midfielder.  I think he’ll do much better in Frank’s setup.

To say he’s the worst transfer we’ve ever made, well that’s just downright laughable.  He’s not even close to being the worst one in the past few years.

39 minutes ago, mwblue10 said:

You’re saying “his position” and by that I’m sure you mean attacking midfield, so of course if you think he’s an attacking midfielder then you’ll be disappointed with his goal output, and there will be natural AMs that score many more goals than him.  The thing is, he’s not an attacking midfielder.  I think he’ll do much better in Frank’s setup.

To say he’s the worst transfer we’ve ever made, well that’s just downright laughable.  He’s not even close to being the worst one in the past few years.

So, he's not an attacking midfelder. Not a deep laying playmaker. Not a defensive one. Not a midfield general like a Roy Keane. What exactly is he supposed to be? All i see is him making lots of runs (mainly sideways) and short passes on or around the halfway line. Gets within 30 yards of goal, gets a nosebleed and passes the buck. Dissapears from the game, gets taken off. Repeat and Rinse.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Yes, there's been even crapper signings - Bakayoko to name just one.  My point was because we've had a good look at him and then signed him. Look, i honestly hope he turns things round, but i'll put good money on  him being the same next season.

Edited June 27, 20197 yr by Dixons

Very interested to see how he does in a set-up with SFL and Jody giving him the advice and support. 

At the moment, our 6 in midfield looks like; 

Jorginho, Kante, RLC
Kovacic, Barkley, Mount

I have no issue with that being our 6. In a year's time we will likely look to improve in some way, but for now, that's better than not signing Kovacic.

2 hours ago, Sindre said:

He is a top player and was very highly rated at Real Madrid before we got him.

 

 

2 hours ago, Sindre said:

But he was excellent for Real Madrid so i am not sure what you are on about.

 

 

He was that good that they let us have him.

Looking at the positive side of this maybe playing in a more suitable position and given more time there is a top player in there, and maybe his failed transfer to Madrid held back his potential some what and a fresh start will help him kick on? 
Zanetti did say that, with the exception of Ronaldo, Kovačić was the most promising youngster he had seen in his 19 years at the club.  Maybe we should play him up front then?

21 minutes ago, Davey Baby said:

 

 

He was that good that they let us have him.

He asked to leave and Real Madrid didn't want to keep him against his will.

As with others the biggest issue I have with him is his lack of goals, but that could be said for all of our midfielders... I feel part of that is due to the managers we have had we have for that past few years tried to pass the ball into the net (not to the full on Wenger mode) but get into the box first then look to finish. I hope that Frank says "just have a pop from time to time" 

I have lost count of the amount of times over the past 3-4 years we have been tippy tapping around the penalty area and not taken opportunities to have a shot from range, just  to clarify as I know someone will say "why shoot of the through ball is on" of course you have to mix it up not shoot all the time but every so often 

8 minutes ago, Sindre said:

He asked to leave and Real Madrid didn't want to keep him against his will.

Because he couldn't get a game for them. What a waste of money. This club, honestly!

Kovacic won’t score goals anymore than Jorginho or bakyoko will. Outside of RLC Kante is incredibly enough the midfielder the midfielder with the most scoring ability. We certainly could use a goal scoring mid. 

What I see Kovacic doing is controlling the central midfield contolling the ball and making space for wider players. Letting us play tiki taka or Sarri ball or possession based football. That kind of football needs a cutting edge which if course this team doesn’t have. But anyhow

Edited June 27, 20197 yr by ozboy

53 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

Very interested to see how he does in a set-up with SFL and Jody giving him the advice and support. 

At the moment, our 6 in midfield looks like; 

Jorginho, Kante, RLC
Kovacic, Barkley, Mount

I have no issue with that being our 6. In a year's time we will likely look to improve in some way, but for now, that's better than not signing Kovacic.

I agree, we can definitely make that 6 work - though as I've said before, it really does depend on RLC staying fit and healthy.  Or Barkley improving massively, which is more of a long shot, in my opinion.

1 hour ago, Dixons said:

So, he's not an attacking midfelder. Not a deep laying playmaker. Not a defensive one. Not a midfield general like a Roy Keane. What exactly is he supposed to be? All i see is him making lots of runs (mainly sideways) and short passes on or around the halfway line. Gets within 30 yards of goal, gets a nosebleed and passes the buck. Dissapears from the game, gets taken off. Repeat and Rinse.                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Yes, there's been even crapper signings - Bakayoko to name just one.  My point was because we've had a good look at him and then signed him. Look, i honestly hope he turns things round, but i'll put good money on  him being the same next season.

I don't know where you are pulling the bolded portion from but those certainly won't my words.  He actually is a pretty decent defensive player, puts in a good tackle and work rate is good.  And to answer your question of what he's supposed to be, see here:

19 minutes ago, ozboy said:

What I see Kovacic doing is controlling the central midfield contolling the ball and making space for wider players.

I think he will fit well in SFL's tactics.  And there are plenty of reports out there that Lampard signed off on the player, so that alone is good enough for me.

Can only assume that us signing Kovacic means Bakayoko is as good as gone.

Can't imagine us signing a midfielder if any additional players were coming back. I don't think we'll be seeing Mason Mount involved this year either. 

35 minutes ago, WhiteWall said:

Because he couldn't get a game for them. What a waste of money. This club, honestly!

He played lots of games for them. Behind Modric and Kroos in the pecking order but there is no shame in that.

1 minute ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Can only assume that us signing Kovacic means Bakayoko is as good as gone.

Can't imagine us signing a midfielder if any additional players were coming back. I don't think we'll be seeing Mason Mount involved this year either. 

What makes you think mount wont be involved? 

I think it will be jorginho, kante, Bakayoko, and kovacic for the 2 deep positions, then mount and and barkley for the attacking spot. RLC will probably not be back in contention until the new year. 

The only player that could be hurt by this is Ampadu in my opinion, although im not sure whether his long term future will be in defence. 

£40m in the end, not bad buisness considering some if the prices being bandied about for players this summer. 

A lot of foreign players tend to fair better in their 2nd season aswell, so i think Kovacic could suprise a few this season, especually in a different system. 

16 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Can only assume that us signing Kovacic means Bakayoko is as good as gone.

Can't imagine us signing a midfielder if any additional players were coming back. I don't think we'll be seeing Mason Mount involved this year either. 

If it wasn't for RLC's injury, a PL loan for Mount would have been useful.  Now though, I think we will need him.  At the very least, he can play in the FA and Carabao Cups and provide depth that way.

46 minutes ago, mwblue10 said:

I don't know where you are pulling the bolded portion from but those certainly won't my words.  He actually is a pretty decent defensive player, puts in a good tackle and work rate is good.  And to answer your question of what he's supposed to be, see here:

I think he will fit well in SFL's tactics.  And there are plenty of reports out there that Lampard signed off on the player, so that alone is good enough for me.

Must be some technical glitch somewhere because i didn't use bolded words. I just checked my post and there's no bolded words appearing on my screen, but there are bolded words in your quoted post of mine.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Hope Lamps is right on this.  Btw.Early in his Chelsea career i thought Drogba was a bit of a Donkey. So it shows how wrong i can be!                                                          

Edited June 27, 20197 yr by Dixons

I will allow for the possibility that Sarri may not have gotten the best out of him.  I'll reserve judgement until I see him under our new management.  If he produces the type of performances that he had in the Europa League final, I'd be quite happy.

A bit of experience amongst the younger Academy players isn't a bad thing, even though Kova is still fairly young himself.  He's had a year to settle in.  And I'd rather have him that Drinkwater or Bakayoko.

It's concerning that Madrid were desperate to not have him back, and I thought Marina might negotiate better terms because of that.  But there might have been some relationship to what Madrid paid for Hazard factored in here.

 

Posting this here because it's more likely that Kovacic is announced today, but small chance the news could be Frank.

6 minutes ago, mwblue10 said:

 

Posting this here because it's more likely that Kovacic is announced today, but small chance the news could be Frank.

Three more pre-season games announced...…...that's the exciting news?

I think we would be daft not to sign him, he is obviously a very talented player and I thought he did quite well all things considered, coming with no pre season, new manager, new system, played out of position often. We need players, especially with RLC injured and he is certainly above Drinkwater and Bakayoko in the pecking order for midfield. The figure quoted will be all in with the add ons, its weird how Madrid always do this with their transfers. Quote only the initial price when buying, the full thing when selling. So possibly around £35m for him, with some of that already paid as the loan (I think I read that somewhere last season when we got him). For that money he is absolutely worth signing

Kovacic have never been in a position in his career. Does he know his position? Do any of his coaches? 

He is a great athlete and has a very good touch. He can really glide with the ball. That asset makes you feel he should glide past players and make a decisive pass. With Chelsea he took the ball, took a few steps and passed the ball to a worse position. Maybe it was due to his position or our system or congested defences. Who knows.. 

What we know:

He isn't a great passer

He is an okay passer

He won't steal the ball from opponent 

He won't tackle

He can't shoot to save his life

He don't like to enter opponent box

He can run very well with the ball

His first touch is good enough 

He can work small spaces

His vision is not very good

Jorginho is a better passer and making interceptions 

Kante is better running with the ball 

Barkley is a better passer

I really don't understand what his role optimally should be.... Maybe Frank does. 

7 minutes ago, Boston Blue said:

Three more pre-season games announced...…...that's the exciting news?

Hopefully not!

Edit: Just seen that that actually is what was announced.  What a tease.

Edited June 27, 20197 yr by mwblue10

2 minutes ago, evissy said:

Kovacic have never been in a position in his career. Does he know his position? Do any of his coaches? 

He is a great athlete and has a very good touch. He can really glide with the ball. That asset makes you feel he should glide past players and make a decisive pass. With Chelsea he took the ball, took a few steps and passed the ball to a worse position. Maybe it was due to his position or our system or congested defences. Who knows.. 

What we know:

He isn't a great passer

He is an okay passer

He won't steal the ball from opponent 

He won't tackle

He can't shoot to save his life

He don't like to enter opponent box

He can run very well with the ball

His first touch is good enough 

He can work small spaces

His vision is not very good

Jorginho is a better passer and making interceptions 

Kante is better running with the ball 

Barkley is a better passer

I really don't understand what his role optimally should be.... Maybe Frank does. 

Agree with most of your list but the portions I bolded are pretty harsh.  I think he definitely is willing to put in a tackle, and he's actually pretty good at it.