Please dont shoot the messenger but just read this article and thought maybe we could ask Modric & Corluka to "sound him out" , Croatian team all seem technically good & high praise from Bilic, would he be happy on the bench as back up to Pav & Defoe, maybe for now or the future!?!
There are a number of Premier League clubs looking to strengthen their squads with new strikers in January with the likes of Tottenham, Aston Villa, Man City, Chelsea and Everton all in the market. One such target may well be a relative unknown to English fans but who has started to make a name for himself throughout Europe. That played is 21-year-old striker Nikola Kalinic.
The youngster is arguably one of the most highly-rated players to emerge in Croatia in the past 10 years and is beginning to make clubs around Europe sit up and take notice with his goalscoring exploits. The Hadjuk Split frontman is currently leading the scoring charts in his country with 11 goals in 16 League appearances for his club though 6 of those strikes were penalties. This followed on from a superb 2007/08 campaign which led to Kalinic being called up to Slaven Bilic’s Euro 2008 squad.
The young striker is so highly regarded in his homeland that Bilic described him as “the future of Croatian football” which is high praise indeed. Last season Kalinic came of age in the Hadjuk first team after returning from successful loan spells at Pula and Sibenik.
He finished 3rd top scorer in Croatia in 2007/08 with 17 goals in 25 League appearances (23 starts) despite his club finishing 5th in the 12-team division. This earned him a call-up to Euro 2008 despite being uncapped prior to the naming of the squad. Since then Kalinic has made two senior appearances (both as substitute) without scoring against Moldova (friendly) and Poland at Euro 2008.
Kalinic was born in the small town of Solin and made his top division debut for Hadjuk aged just 17 in the 2005/06 season. The young striker made 6 League appearances that season (2 starts). Even though he failed to score, his talent was there for all to see.
The following season Kalinic was sent out on loan to fellow Croatian side Pula where he scored 3 goals in 12 League appearances and was dubbed by their manager Krunoslav Jurčić as Croatia’s version of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. He then joined Sibenik on loan where he managed to score 3 goals in just 8 League appearances prior to returning to Hadjuk last season when his career took off.
Kalinic has represented his country at every level from U17 to the seniors and is tipped by many in his homeland to follow in the footsteps of arguably the greatest Croatian striker in history - Davor Suker. However, he has a lot to live up to as Suker scored an incredible 45 goals in 69 internationals so any comparisons may be unfair.
At 6 ft 1 he is built for Premier League football and would surely be of interest to a number of clubs searching for a striker who may soon be out of their League if he continues to impress. He would be the perfect young back up to the established striking talents at the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea but could play a more significant role with the likes of Spurs and Everton.
So would you like your club to make a move for this exciting talent or would you prefer a striker from a stronger League than Croatia’s? Let’s hear your views.
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There are a number of Premier League clubs looking to strengthen their squads with new strikers in January with the likes of Tottenham, Aston Villa, Man City, Chelsea and Everton all in the market. One such target may well be a relative unknown to English fans but who has started to make a name for himself throughout Europe. That played is 21-year-old striker Nikola Kalinic.
The youngster is arguably one of the most highly-rated players to emerge in Croatia in the past 10 years and is beginning to make clubs around Europe sit up and take notice with his goalscoring exploits. The Hadjuk Split frontman is currently leading the scoring charts in his country with 11 goals in 16 League appearances for his club though 6 of those strikes were penalties. This followed on from a superb 2007/08 campaign which led to Kalinic being called up to Slaven Bilic’s Euro 2008 squad.
The young striker is so highly regarded in his homeland that Bilic described him as “the future of Croatian football” which is high praise indeed. Last season Kalinic came of age in the Hadjuk first team after returning from successful loan spells at Pula and Sibenik.
He finished 3rd top scorer in Croatia in 2007/08 with 17 goals in 25 League appearances (23 starts) despite his club finishing 5th in the 12-team division. This earned him a call-up to Euro 2008 despite being uncapped prior to the naming of the squad. Since then Kalinic has made two senior appearances (both as substitute) without scoring against Moldova (friendly) and Poland at Euro 2008.
Kalinic was born in the small town of Solin and made his top division debut for Hadjuk aged just 17 in the 2005/06 season. The young striker made 6 League appearances that season (2 starts). Even though he failed to score, his talent was there for all to see.
Kalinic has represented his country at every level from U17 to the seniors and is tipped by many in his homeland to follow in the footsteps of arguably the greatest Croatian striker in history - Davor Suker. However, he has a lot to live up to as Suker scored an incredible 45 goals in 69 internationals so any comparisons may be unfair.
At 6 ft 1 he is built for Premier League football and would surely be of interest to a number of clubs searching for a striker who may soon be out of their League if he continues to impress. He would be the perfect young back up to the established striking talents at the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea but could play a more significant role with the likes of Spurs and Everton.
So would you like your club to make a move for this exciting talent or would you prefer a striker from a stronger League than Croatia’s? Let’s hear your views.
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