Croatian players have been on the radar of Premier League clubs ever since the immense success of Luka Modric. Liverpool have set their sights firmly upon midfielder Ante Coric. However, according to TransferMarketWeb’s Claudio Colla Jurgen Klopp faces stiff competition from at least five other teams for the signature of the 20-year-old. Coric has become one of the most sought-after players following his impressive performances with Dinamo Zagreb. He came to prominence in the Champions League campaign earlier this season when he played against the likes of Juventus and Sevilla.
While Dinamo Zagreb struggled as a team against these oppositions, Coric caught the eye of several scouts with his performances. After securing a return to the Champions League following a 4th place finish, Liverpool are keen on strengthening the squad in different areas of the pitch. At this moment, the squad is simply not capable of fighting on two major fronts – Premier League and Champions League – aside from the cup competitions like the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.
Coric is still an extremely young talent and will benefit from Liverpool’s policy of signing a mixture of experienced and youth players. If the club are able to bring in a new left-back in the summer, we could be looking at James Milner and Coric forming a partnership in the middle of the park – at least in the cup competitions. This will provide the player with a huge opportunity to learn from one of the most consistent and dependable players in the Premier League over the last decade.
Liverpool are aware that Tottenham and West Brom are leading the race when it comes to Premier League clubs. Sampdoria and Roma from Serie A are also showing interest in the player. Being able to convince the player to join the Merseyside outfit ahead of all these clubs is a major task indeed, but we’d certainly be assisted by the presence of Champions League football next season. If Coric prioritizes on joining a club with European football, only the likes of Roma and Tottenham will be in contention with us.
A bigger task than convincing the player is to convince Dinamo Zagreb to sell the player. At 20 years of age, knowing that the player’s contract does not run out until June 2022 and being aware of the growing transfer interest surrounding the player, Dinamo Zagreb will play hardball when it comes to the negotiations. They managed to get the player on a long-term contract only a couple of months ago. This places the Croatian outfit at a major advantage when it comes to negotiating the transfer fee for the lad.
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