8.  MATEO KOVACIC

Born in Linz, Austria, to Bosnian Croat parents who had moved there from Kotor Varoš in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kovačić began playing at an early age at the local LASK Linz's academy.
In 2007, when Kovačić was 13, he was spotted by scouts from several prominent European clubs, including Ajax, Inter Milan, Juventus and Bayern Munich, but his family opted to move to Zagreb instead, where he joined Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb. Kovačić suffered a serious injury in 2009 in which his leg was broken, but he returned to the pitch after a lengthy recovery on 31 May 2010, appearing in the last match of the Croatian under-17 academy league, a 5–0 win against RNK Split under-17s.

Kovačić eventually had his professional league debut in the 2010–11 Prva HNL away match against Hrvatski Dragovoljac on 20 November 2010, in which he scored Dinamo's fourth goal in their 6–0 win. This made him the youngest goalscorer in the history of the league, at the age of 16 years and 198 days, breaking the record set only a week earlier by Dino Špehar who had scored for NK Osijek at the age of 16 years and 278 days on 13 November 2010. In his first senior season with Dinamo Zagreb he managed to appear in 7 matches, making a contribution in winning the league title.

On 31 January 2013, Kovačić agreed to a transfer to Inter Milan. It was revealed that the deal was worth €15 million in total, with €11 million paid immediately and €4 million when and if Inter qualifies for the UEFA Champions League. Upon his arrival, Kovačić was given the number 10 shirt, previously worn by Wesley Sneijder.

Kovačić made his debut for Inter three days later, on 3 February, coming on as a half-time substitute in a Serie A match against Siena. On 14 February, Kovačić made his European debut before the home crowd at San Siro in Europa League match against CFR Cluj. He provided the winning assist for Rodrigo Palacio, who made it 2–0 for Inter, impressing the crowd with his performance, and was given standing ovations while being substituted off in the 89th minute. He also played full 90 minutes in the 3–0 away win against CFR Cluj, as Inter proceeded to the next round of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League.

On 16 August 2015, Inter manager Roberto Mancini confirmed that the club was forced to sell Kovačić to Real Madrid due to Financial Fair Play regulations. Speaking during a press conference after a friendly against Greek club AEK Athens, Mancini stated, "There are rules that have to be respected. I don't think anyone wanted this to happen but we have the Financial Fair Play regulations to follow. We're all sorry about it: myself, the president, the management and the players themselves.

On 8 August 2018, Kovačić joined Chelsea on loan for a one-year deal.