Every now and then there comes a player who almost makes you feel like he is going to be a future superstar no matter what. Croatia’s Ante Coric is truly someone who fits into that category. The player has defied odds right from his childhood and has never been afraid to take the unconventional decisions.
Coric started playing the beautiful game at the age of 5. His father, who was a football manager in the Zagreb area, took his son to attend training sessions from that tender age. Spending four years in the youth system of Hrvatski Dragovoljac and another three at NK Zagreb, Coric’s family realised the potential of their son and decided to find the perfect place in Europe for him where his talents would be best nurtured.
After England and Spain, they reached Germany and went to Bayern Munich. Attending a trial at Bavaria, Coric turned all the heads when he undertook the grading system at the Säbener Strasse youth academy which determines the potential of talented youth players. Coric was the first one in history to fully complete all the tasks and score maximum points.
Despite putting a unique performance the player didn’t join Bayern. Instead, he decided to join Red Bull Salzburg’s youth academy with his parents deciding to move to Austria. There were interests from Chelsea and Barcelona also but joining the Salzburg academy, Coric remarked in typical fashion that he joined the team for he feels that his teammates are better than the players of the same age anywhere else.
In 2013, the player went back to his homeland and joined Dinamo Zagreb, where he has now become an integral part of the senior team since making his debut on April 2014. In the 2014/15 Europa League, Coric scored in the opening game of Dinamo Zagreb against Astra Giurgiu and became the youngest goal scorer in Europa League history. Currently in his 4th season at the club, the 19-year old has already amassed an impressive 93 appearance in all competitions finding the net 13 times.
Primarily an attacking midfielder who is an out and out number 10, Coric is one of those players who seems way above his age with the ball on his feet. Dribbling past players with ease, bamboozling his opponents with his little shimmies and execution of his passes, the 19-year old is also exceptionally good at selling fakes to the opponents and draws huge cheers from the crowd with those moves. His vision, playmaking abilities, passing range, brilliant touch and intelligence is what makes him a player who is truly special.
The obvious weaknesses, seem to be his defensive contribution, discipline and physicality. Manchester City are desperate to sign the prodigy in January but Liverpool who came very close to secure his signing in the summer only to be rejected by the player because he wanted to play European football with his boyhood club, is not prepared to let him off so easily and will battle it out with the Citizens over the move according to reports.
A move to the Premier League thus might be near for the talented midfielder but with Coric you just never know what’s next. We might find him playing for a club completely unfancied or unglamorous compared to the ones chasing him currently but whatever may be the case, it is sure that he will definitely be playing at a club where his talent would be nurtured properly with the player getting the game time he deserves.
