Mateo Kovacic

Mateo Kovačić (Croatian pronunciation: ; born 6 May 1994) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Manchester City and the Croatia national team. Kovačić began his professional career with Dinamo Zagreb at the age of 16, with whom he won two consecutive Prva HNL titles, before joining Inter Milan in 2013. After the 2014–15 season, he moved to Real Madrid, where he won the 2015–16, 2016–17 and 2017–18 UEFA Champions Leagues. He joined Chelsea in 2018 on loan, signing permanently at the end of the 2018–19 season. With Chelsea, Kovačić won the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League and the 2020–21 Champions League, as well as having been named Chelsea Player of the Year for the 2019–20 season. He was also part of the team that won the UEFA Super Cup and the first FIFA Club World Cup for Chelsea in the 2021–22 season. Born in Austria, Kovačić played for Croatia at multiple youth levels before making his debut for the senior national team in 2013. He has represented the nation at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cups, as well as the 2016 and 2020 UEFA European Championships, reaching the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2023 UEFA Nations League finals.