Liverpool are reportedly edging closer to a deal for Inter Milan midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
According to The Telegraph, we’re ‘closer than ever’ to completing our move, with the two teams just £5m apart in their valuations. The report suggests that both clubs are willing to compromise to ensure that the 21-year-old’s switch happens soon, so it looks as if our third new signing of the summer is just around the corner.
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Kovacic would become just our third Croatian player in the Premier League era and our eleventh from Eastern Europe. In the list below, we rank all of those that have come before our likely new man, as we consider our varying fortunes in the region.
Take a look…
10) Milan Jovanovic
The Serbian was brought to the club by Roy Hodgson. Unfortunately for him, Hodgson didn’t last long at Anfield and Kenny Dalglish quickly disposed of him, exiling him from the first-team before selling him to Anderlecht the following summer. He made just ten Premier League appearances.
9) Andriy Voronin
The veteran striker was expected to be a good fit at Anfield, where he was brought in from Bayer Leverkusen as back-up to Fernando Torres. However, the Ukrainian managed just 27 Premier League appearances and five goals during three years on Merseyside, a year of which he spent on loan back in Germany.
8) Lazar Markovic
The youngster arrived at Liverpool from Benfica last summer. He’s had little chance to make an impact thus far, with Brendan Rodgers rarely giving him the chance to start a game during the second-half of the season. Needless to say that the Serbian still has a long way to go to justify his price-tag.
7) Dejan Lovren
Speaking of players not justifying their price-tags, this Croatian defender was also a disappointment during his first season at Anfield. He primarily played second fiddle to Martin Skrtel and Mamadou Sakho, although a couple of injuries to the Frenchman saw Lovren get a second chance towards the end of the campaign.
6) Igor Biscan
The second of the Croatian’s on this list, Biscan arrived at Liverpool at the turn of the century. He mostly played second-fiddle to Steven Gerrard and co in midfield but did manage 72 league appearances during five years at the club and was an unused substitute during the Champions League final in Istanbul.
5) Milan Baros
The Czech striker never quite managed to live up to expectations at Anfield. He scored 19 goals in 68 league appearances for us and was mostly overshadowed by his teammates – who included Michael Owen and Emile Heskey. Nonetheless, he helped inspire our Champions League win and has since enjoyed a decent career.
4) Vladimir Smicer
The veteran midfielder will be best remembered for THAT goal against AC Milan. However, he actually made more than 150 appearances for Liverpool, winning the treble in 2001 as well as the Champions League four years later. The Czech star finished his career back in Prague in 2009.
3) Jerzy Dudek
The goalkeeper might have made his fair share of mistakes during six years at Anfield but all was instantly forgiven when he saved Andriy Shevchenko’s penalty in Istanbul. He spent another two years on Merseyside after that night, as back up to Pepe Reina, but only managed 12 appearances.
2) Patrik Berger
The midfielder made just shy of 150 Premier League appearances for Liverpool, scoring 28 goals in the process. The Czech star was an integral part of our treble winning side in 2001 but departed for Portsmouth in 2003. He then finished his career with spells at Aston Villa, Stoke City and Sparta Prague.
1) Martin Skrtel
The Slovakian defender has always been a reliable and formidable defender for us. He’s approaching 300 appearances in all competitions, while he’s also chipped in with a highly respectable 17 goals. That included seven during our 2013-14 campaign, when we narrowly missed out on the title.
