Why Sarri is sad over Kovacic’s injury

Mauricio Sarri is an unhappy man at the moment as one of his main players at the club, on loan Real Madrid midfielder Mateo Kovacic was forced out of Croatia’s Nations League game against England at Wembley with an injury.

The midfielder whose future at the Blues is still a topic of conversation was not named on the teamsheet for the Nations League clash, despite key midfielder Ivan Rakitic having picked up an injury in the win over Spain and also missing out.

Kovacic, however, did not train with the rest of the side yesterday in the build-up to the crunch match and according to reports from Croatian media he has picked up a minor muscle injury.

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The player who recently said he was enjoying life in London has appeared for the Croatian national team at various youth levels, debuting in May 2008 in an under-14 friendly match against Slovakia.

The Croatian senior team player made his senior debut in a qualification match against Serbia on 22 March 2013, playing as a central midfielder alongside Luka Modrić, instead of a regular team starter, Ognjen Vukojević.

Kovačić became the fifth Croatian player, after Robert Prosinečki, Davor Šuker, Robert Jarni and Luka Modrić, to join Real Madrid.