Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic has had an impressive international break with Croatia and a telling statistic has already illustrated the competition Saul Niguez will face to get into the team following his deadline day signing.
Kovacic featured in both of Croatia's games in the international break whilst new signing Saul has been getting used to life at Cobham ahead of a potential Aston Villa debut.
football.london understands that the deal to bring the 26-year-old to Chelsea is very similar to the structure of the transfer that brought Kovacic from Real Madrid in that there is an option to buy at the end of the loan period for a reported £30million.
Kovacic already has had his performance against Russia in the 0-0 draw highlighted for all the right reasons, but a more recent statistic from the tight 1-0 win over Slovakia on Saturday suggests that the Atletico Madrid loanee will need to put up some strong displays in training to displace the Croatian.
According to WhoScored, Kovacic has completed more dribbles [19] than any other player in UEFA World Cup qualifying.
Unsurprisingly, dribbling and driving the ball forward is the 27-year-old's main attribute which contrasts the best abilities of the other three Blues midfielders in which Kovacic will be competing for a starting place in the two-man engine room.
Here's how a selection of Chelsea fans reacted to the Kovacic statistic that has been doing the rounds on social media.
@Ataka0904 commented: 'Kovacic please convert those dribbles to scoring goals. It will be more useful for us.
@cfc_433 reckons: 'He’s criminally underrated.'
@coybdonszn gave their one-word verdict: 'Maestro.'
@Debarrister21 has picked his favourite midfield pivot: 'Kante-Kovacic. Our best pivot.'
@B2R426 pointed out a deficiency in Kovacic's game that is more present in Saul's armoury: 'He can do everything except scoring.'
@SopraniG doesn't really rate the Croatian as much as others do: 'He holds the ball too much and delays the whole midfield's dynamic. We saw him Inter.'
The real acid test for Kovacic now is whether or not he features in Thomas Tuchel's next lineup in the Premier League against Aston Villa on September 11.
Will his impressive international form be rewarded with a rare start under the German?
