Ahh. Another summer, another Croatian starlet. Tin Jedvaj left for Roma before we could sign him up and Alen Halihovic held out for Barcelona, but that well hasn't run dry, y'all. We're still all over these Croatian wonderkids, and the latest is a midfielder named Andrija Balic. He's 16, he plays for Hajduk Split and he sounds pretty great.
Here's the Daily Mail on negotiations, which have featured DANIEL LEVY BEING CHEAP GOD HE'S SO CHEAP #ENICOUT.
Sporting director Franco Baldini has been in negotiations with the Croatian club over recent weeks and is looking to strike a deal for around £1.8million. However, Split want closer to £4.5million for the coveted 16-year-old who has already broken into their first team.
The Mail uses "broken into the first team" liberally. From what I can tell, he's played in one league match and two cup matches. He does not have a Wikipedia page and I can't find a highlight reel of him on YouTube. I've been unsuccessful in tracking down individual goals and assists as well. Basically, there's almost no information on this dude on accessible English-language websites. But you can see what he looks like on the Google machine.
Balic is yet to feature for the Croatia Under-21 or Under-19 teams, but he has two Under-18 appearances and five Under-17 appearances. He's played at every international level since U-14 and has not scored a goal. This leads me to believe he's more of a central midfielder than an attacking midfielder, but obviously I've been unable to catch any of his games.
If you have any more information on Balic, please drop it in the comments. I'd love to learn more.