Mateo Kovacic has the quality to still be relevant for Real Madrid

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Real Madrid have completed the signing of Dani Ceballos and most fans, analysts and reporters in general suggest that Mateo Kovacic could be leaving the club this summer to find more minutes elsewhere, even through a permanent deal.

Kovacic was a key contributor for Real Madrid last season. Kroos and Modric both missed a significant amount of games and the Croatian midfielder replaced them seamlessly throughout the first half of the campaign. People tend to forget that Kovacic is still 23 years old because he’s been with the club for two seasons already. Ceballos is a big part of Madrid’s future, but would it be fair to assume he is ahead of Kovacic in the rotation?

Zidane played Kovacic for more than 2,100 minutes last season, meaning that the young and promising midfielder saw his total increase in 700 from what he played during his first year with Madrid. The French coach used almost every man on his roster because of his rotation policy, that’s true, but Kovacic delivered and he wouldn’t have been on the pitch otherwise. You don’t play 2,100 minutes for Real Madrid if you don’t perform well.

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Make no mistake: Zinedine Zidane trusts Mateo Kovacic and he has seen enough from him so far.

For the time being, Ceballos still has work to do if he wants to be ahead of Kovacic in the depth chart.

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