With the January transfer window open, world football expert Jonathan Wilson gives his verdict on five Balkan stars attracting interest from Premier League clubs.
Wednesday 8 January 2014 13:32, UK
Jonathan Wilson gives his verdict on five Balkan stars linked with moves to the Premier League.
Sky Sports regular Jonathan Wilson is the editor of The Blizzard, author of tactics bible Inverting the Pyramid and has written about football in the Balkans in his book Behind the Curtain. Adam Bate caught up with him to get his views on five Balkan stars being linked with moves to the Premier League.
I can see the logic in him going to Arsenal. It's pretty obvious Arsenal are short of a striker and he's not getting in the side at Juventus with Carlos Tevez and Fernando Llorente forming a good partnership. Given his age, he's not going to be that expensive so he could be a short-term fix. The other great advantage he's got is that he can play as an out-and-out forward similar to Olivier Giroud or you can play him in the line of three behind on the left, the right or as a No.10. He can effectively be cover for four positions so as a short-term squad player I think he'd be ideal.
He's a wonderful player. In the last year or two he's really matured as well. He's always had the talent. He sees the game very well. He can play central or can play wide on the right drifting in and he scores goals. He's added consistency to his game. I was in Zenica when Bosnia beat Lithuania 3-0 and he was absolutely magnificent in the first half of that game, hitting passes from one side of the pitch to the other. He's a majestic footballer. I'm not sure he'd want to leave Roma in January if they are still in a title challenge - although whether they are now, that's debatable. If a big team come in for him then Serie A is a league now where players get sold.
I think he is enormously talented as a No.10 and can play wide drifting in, but I think he's gone off the boil a bit in the last year. I think they've overused him and overindulged him. It's difficult when you're in a league and the quality isn't so high. The temptation is to play the kid over and over again and he's ended up looking jaded. He's been linked with Tottenham so perhaps that got to him, I don't know. But the other problem is that he regularly tries to do too much. He tries to beat three men rather than play the pass. He really hasn't matured yet and could probably do with waiting a year, playing less and taking time to think about the game.
I'm sure Bayern want to keep him but realistically how is he going to get into that team? They've got Lewandowski on his way as well as Thomas Muller and Mario Gotze who can play in that position. I think he fulfils a useful role for them in terms of initiating the press, but there's a certain wildness to him that coaches find difficult to control. Guardiola looks at him and probably recognises that he's useful in the short term but doesn't quite have the touch of a typical Guardiola player.
I think he's got the physicality to do well in the Premier League. He's not going to be cowed by challenges. He relishes the physical side. He's a player who has his elbows all over the place when he wants to - and I mean that in a good way. He's an awkward player who is quite hard to knock off the ball. Will he move in January? Possibly not, but Bayern might feel now is the time to cash in on him rather than in the summer when Lewandowski comes in.
He was very close to moving to Manchester United in the summer and I think he's the sort of player that United really need. He's really commanding at the back of midfield, powerful and has got that dynamism that United lack at the minute. He scores goals too so I can understand why United are very interested in him. All the word I got from people around Matic is that those negotiations have taken on a very serious shape so I think there's every chance that deal could be resurrected because Benfica are a selling club.
The interesting one is Chelsea because I think there's an issue of pride there. Having sold him, will they pay money to bring him back? It'd be embarrassing but that's better than letting him go to United. Jose Mourinho has hinted that he wants to move away from a 4-2-3-1 to a 4-3-3 but he's limited in terms of players who can play at the back of midfield. He's got John Obi Mikel, Frank Lampard and Ramires but after that there's not a lot with Marco van Ginkel being injured. He'd be ideal for that role as a holding player in a 4-3-3.
