One of Croatia’s best footballers has been linked with a move to the Premier League for almost a year now. Ante Coric, the youngster from Dinamo Zagreb did not have a great Euro 2016 but that has not affected his stock value come the start of the new season.
With a number of clubs after his signing, two more have entered the fray. Everton, who now seem to have the money, vision and manage to attract some of the top talents across the world, are in the race for Coric while Tottenham, who have one of the best managers in the Premier League, are also trying their best to bring the 19-year-old Croatian to White Hart Lane.
Coric has actually declined to join many large clubs in the past as he put his training and growth ahead of money but now could be the perfect time for him to learn his trade in a foreign country.
The Croatian would mostly play in an attacking role and it does seem that one club needs help in that area more than another. Tottenham might be placed better than Everton when it comes to finishing in the table but the power and money that Everton have could turn Zagreb’s decision towards the Merseyside club.
It probably would be Coric who does take the final decision when it comes to joining either Spurs or Everton, he has always put his playing career before anything else and this is where it could make or break for him.
Tottenham have a lot of quality on their side in the attacking third, Vincent Janssen joined the club and they have the likes of Christian Eriksen, Erik Lamela and Dele Alli to fill in the three slots just behind Harry Kane.
What Mauricio Pochettino could also do this season is play with two strikers up top and that would further reduce the chances of play for the talented 19-year-old, who does need to start more games in a tougher league.
This is where Ronald Koeman and his team can come in, Everton would love to bring in a top young talent into their side and with a relative lack of attacking options next season, Romelu Lukaku is a sure shot to leave the club this time around, Coric could get a lot of playing time as well.
They already have Ross Barkley in their side and working with the Englishman would certainly appeal to Coric and the fact that he would get into the Tottenham team without any issues whatsoever. The 19-year-old could also be swayed by the fact that Ronald Koeman has a great record of working with young players thanks to his time at Ajax but Spurs fans would argue that Mauricio Pochettino also has done extremely well with the youth team at Tottenham.
Coric does have to be smart about making his decision about choosing which side to play for. Tottenham might be playing in the Champions League and that might appeal to him but the spotlight while playing for Tottenham now is completely different to say 5 years ago. There is more pressure to perform from the get-go.
Everton also has their own problems, with the new owner coming in, there will be a lot of expectations but Koeman does seem to be a man who can deal with this added burden and the fact that Coric would be playing more regularly for the Toffees does make it an appealing prospect for him.
Everton does seem the logical choice when it comes to the progression of the career but Coric has often not moved when he could have joined the likes of Bayern Munich and Chelsea, could he be doing something similar this time as well?