THERE is only, as fans of Dinamo Zagreb, Spurs, Real Madrid and Croatia have been chanting for the past 22 years or so, one Luka Modric.
The 39-year-old, who is set to win his 181st cap for his country in their Nations League match against Scotland in the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb tomorrow evening, is an all-time great of world football and we will never see his likes again.
There is, however, hope in Modric’s homeland that an emerging talent could fill the massive void which “The Cruyff of the Balkans” will leave behind when he finally retires from the game.
Martin Baturina, the Dinamo Zagreb and Croatia playmaker who should feature at some stage in the Group A1 encounter this weekend, has been labelled “the new Luka Modric” by his excited compatriots since breaking into his national team towards the end of last year.
No pressure then! That is an awful lot for any footballer, never mind one who only turned 21 back in February, to live up to. But the midfielder has impressed onlookers with his technical ability and football intelligence and drawn admiring glances from some of the European game’s biggest and most successful clubs.
Atletico Madrid, Fiorentina and Roma all had seven figure bids turned down by Dinamo, who have their prized asset under contract until 2028, this summer. But by all accounts Modric has urged Real to consider securing his services and Manchester United have been persistently linked with him. It is only a matter of time before he moves on to a higher level further afield.
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Richard Wilson, a Balkans football expert who has watched Baturina mature and improve since he first broke through at The Citizens three years ago, can understand exactly why.
He baulks at the comparison with Modric, however. He thinks he is far more like another of his celebrated countrymen, Robert Prosinecki.
“Martin’s father, Mate, was a Croatian international,” he said. “He attended the Dinamo academy with two of his brothers, Marin and Roko. So he is someone people have been aware of for quite some time because of his background. But he has lived up to the hype.
“Having said that, describing him as ‘the new Modric’ is quite unhelpful to him, not just because of the high standard, but also because his style isn't really that similar. For me, he is more similar to how Prosinecki was back in the day.
“He's always drifting, looking for that half a yard of space and then shifting the ball quickly when he gets it. He’s not as energetic as Modric. He has games when he doesn't really get involved too much. But when he does, he always makes a difference, a big difference.
“He's clearly the player who has the highest ceiling in the Croatian league just now. There are plenty of very good players who have come through in his generation. But he's the one of whom the expectations have been highest for the longest.”
Wilson continued: “Over the past 10 years or so, Dinamo have really been able to hoover up all the talent from everyone else. So if you can make it there as a young player then you can make it anywhere.
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“You usually see young Dinamo players going out on loan at first. Even Modric went to Zrinjski Mostar in Bosnia and Inter Zapresic in Croatia when he was there. But there's been no thought of sending Baturina anywhere. His development has been purely kept in-house because they know what they've got. He's been given the red carpet treatment.
“I think the fact that he's hung around a bit has helped him. He's had consistent development and that puts him mentally, in terms of how he reads a game, ahead of almost any other player of his age in Europe. That skill transfers to a top five league, to England, France, Germany, Italy of Spain, no bother.”
“It is obvious the Croatian national team is going to profit when Baturina eventually starts getting more playing time in the starting line-up,” he said. “We've been excited about him for some time now.
“He's still not up to par with Luka’s physicality, not yet anyway. But his technical ability and his dribbling ability help him to mask that. The way he can get away from opponents who are stronger than him with just a touch of the ball is amazing. He is exactly like Luka in that respect.
“His football IQ is also very high for his age. He knows when to make a run, when to draw the defender. He especially likes the runs in between the left side of the centre back and the left back. But he likes to roam around.
“He's always had confidence. I've never seen Martin play and not play with confidence So, he always looks confident in everything he does. He never lets his head down on the pitch or lets the praise he gets go to his head."
So do Wilson and Nikolac feel Baturina is destined to follow in the footsteps of his fellow Croatia squad members like Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic (both Manchester City), Modric (Real Madrid) and Josip Stanisic (Bayern Munich) and join a continental behemoth imminently?
“I think he’ll be gone in the winter, to be honest,” he said. “He had contract talks over the summer with Dinamo. They said, ‘Look, we want you to play in the Champions League league phase. Stay and gain that exposure, get your value up and then pull the trigger’. They could have sold him for €20m in the summer, but in January it will be €30m at least.
“But I’m not sure that he will make the step from Dinamo to a super club, a Manchester United say, immediately. That's a difficult leap to make. I personally think his next move may be to Spain because his brother Roko is playing for Malaga at the moment so he's already got a bit of a support network there. Also, it would suit his game far more than England would.”
Nicolac said: “This summer we thought he might move. But it's better that he didn't because Dinamo got into the Champions League. He had a great game against Monaco. If he does that two or three more times that's going to increase his price.
"But I think he will do the full season. I don't think Dinamo will sell him. They have They've got the Champions League money in their bank, which has obviously increased this season with the new format. So they have really no need or any urgency to sell him."
Baturina, who made his debut for Croatia in a Euro 2024 qualifier against Latvia last season and came off the bench in their draw with Albania in Germany this summer, is not, due to the 3-5-2 formation which his national manager Zlatko Dalic favours, an automatic starter for his country. But Wilson anticipates he will be before too long.
“On the international stage, we haven't seen too much of him,” he said. “He's still a bench option. He's got the issue that a few players have had over the past few years with Dalic. He doesn’t really fit in to his system. He’s best in that pocket behind the striker and Croatia haven’t played that way in years. When they do, though, that's when he'll come to life.
“I don't think he's a player who's going to grow, adapt his game and become more physical or driving, as Modric did. Where he excels is in a one-on-one situation. He is able to create something for someone else with a defence splitting pass. That's where his real talent lies.”
Celtic should take note. They face Dinamo Zagreb away in their penultimate Champions League league phase match in December in what promises to be a crucial outing for them. To date, they have both experienced similar fortunes in UEFA’s elite club competition.
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Their future opponents crashed to a humiliating 9-2 defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich in Germany in their opener last month. However, they redeemed themselves to an extent with a 2-2 draw with French rivals Monaco last week.
So who does Wilson see edging their encounter? He reckons it is far too close to call. But he did warn that Baturina will inflict serious damage on the visitors if they allow him to get on the ball in and around their penalty box.
“Celtic are a richer and stronger club than Dinamo are,” he said. “Back to front, Celtic are better overall. Defensively, as the 9-2 loss to Bayern showed, Dinamo are not up to the level. Not that Celtic had such a good time against Borussia Dortmund last week either! I think it is very much a 50-50 game.
“But I expect that Celtic will probably leave space for Baturina just because of the nature of their midfield, because of what their shape is. If Dinamo can find him and he's having a good day, then I think Dinamo will certainly be able to get a result of some kind.”
