EXCLUSIVE Ante Coric, from Boban to... Inter?
The latest transfer market darling is Ante Coric, an extremely promising 18-year-old we recently wrote about in relation to Doyen Sports, who tried to orchestrate a move to Porto before, er, actually telling Porto about it.
Considered to be one of the top players of his age level, Coric was with NK Zagreb until he was 12, when he moved to Red Bull Salzburg. Despite offers from Chelsea and Bayern, Coric's dad believed that Austria was better at helping youth develop, and off Ante went,
Aged 16, Roma, Arsenal, Chelsea and Dinamo Zagreb were plumping for him. Coric chose his boyhood love, whose Director of Sport Zdravko Mamic had made a €900.000 offer.
According to observers, Ante is on a par with Alen Halilovic, who belongs to Barcelona but is on loan to Sporting Gijon. Very good i tight spaces, unpredictable and gifted with great vision, Coric is frequently compared to Robert Prosinecki back at home.
Though he's being repeatedly linked to Inter, the 18-year-old actually has a soft spot for Milan, as his father would show him highlights of Croatian hero Zvonimir Boban strutting his stuff for the Rossoneri. Coric's favourite, however, remains Ronaldinho, another Diavolo.
Though Coric has a contract that ties him to Dinamo till 2020, this has done little to keep Europe's elite away: the 18-year-old is so sought after that he recently had to deactivate his facebook account, claiming that scouts were always adding him.
Previously, the Under-21 international's focus was entirely on playing for Dinamo. Now, however, his exclusion from the team's starting XI in the trip to Olympiakos (where they lost at the death to a Felipe Pardo goal, 2-1) has led him to express his desire to leave.
Mamic, however, won't let him leave for anything less than €15 million. With Porto being essentially offered €10 million by DSI to complete the transaction, Inter Milan may have to hurry. The Nerazzurri are still in the first row.
Having brought in fellow countrymen Marcelo Brozovic and Mateo Kovacic (who has since moved to Real Madrid for €29 million), as well as adding Samir Handanovic, Nemanja Vidic, Ivan Perisic, Adem Ljajic and Stefan Jovetic, the Yugoslavinter have become a prime importer of Balkan talent.
