Second day of the adventure on German soil. The European championship has restarted, with the Italian national team ready to defend that unexpected title that arrived in 2021. Several selections start as favorites but, as often happens in this competition, you have to pay attention to the underdog. Being summer EURO 2024 it could prove to be a particularly interesting showcase for the transfer market. The editorial team of MilanPress.it he then proposes the column “A talent a day“, as happened at the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
In these lines you will not read anything real regarding the market (or at least, at the time of writing the article), but real fantasies for the new Milan Of Paulo Fonseca, respecting parameters and maintaining tactical coherence if possible. From now until July 14th we will have fun, hoping to… pack our bags and go to Berlin. The second day opened with the match between Hungary and Switzerland, but our focus today is on Spain-Croatia and an atypical name: here is Marin Pongracic, an identikit from Devil.
Identity card
Name and surname: Marin Pongracic.
Place and date of birth: Landshut, 11 September 1997.
Nationality: croata.
Role: central defender.
Foot: right.
Club membership: Lecce.
Previous clubs: Salzburg, Wolfsburg, Borussia Dortmund.
Price of the card: 7 million euros (Transfermarkt).
History
The great unfulfilled expectations and the rebirth in Salento style. Born in Bavaria to Croatian parents, Marin Pongracic has already lived two lives as a footballer: the first as a promising young player who failed to live up to what people believed he could become; the second as a luxury purchase and new leader in the defense of a Lecce team that after Umtiti managed to enhance and revitalize another international profile.
The place of birth also suggests the possible school in which he grew up, i.e. that of Bayern Monaco. After the youth divisions between Bayern andIngolstadtplay a season at Munich 1860 in which he made his professional debut. And the Salzburg the first club to seriously aim for it, but the discontinuity on the pitch and the injuries do not allow him to make the leap in quality and leave him in a limbo from which it is difficult to escape.
He tries with the Wolfsburg, but during the pandemic period it does not make the club’s fortunes either on or off the pitch. Then he tries, surprisingly, in the Borussia Dortmund of the coach who had believed in him in Austria, Marco Rose. Many shadows in the yellow and black experience, until his return to Wolfsburg at the end of the loan.
In the summer of 2022 he decides to start again from Italy, he decides to start again from Salento and from Lecce, a newly promoted club that will try to save itself. An old enemy comes forward again: injury. Only 9 appearances during the first season due to an ankle operation that stopped him for a long time. The Salento club decides to aim for it anyway and in the following summer, after confirming the top category, negotiates with Wolfsburg and buys them outright for a sum of less than 2 million euros. 2 million well spent because in fact they secured the player who in the 2023/24 season was one of the team’s MVPs, playing 38 games in total between Serie A and the Italian Cup and showing a newfound solidity.
Technical features
No, it wouldn’t be the left-footed central defender that Milan are looking for. And he wouldn’t even be the center back with the incredible experience behind him. At Hummels, so to speak. However, he would guarantee something that the Devil has lacked this season: solidity. There is no better word to describe the year the Croatian had with the Giallorossi shirt.
But it is a solidity that can be extended to both phases of the game, both the defensive and the offensive ones. One of the secrets of the team first of D’Aversa and then of Gotti was his leadership, but also his ability to guarantee fluidity in the game maneuver. A skill in the making setting which, as we know, is a prerogative for the idea of football of Paulo Fonseca’s teams.
At Milan he would be the perfect alternative to Malick Thiaw and Matteo Gabbia on the centre-right, filling what was Simon Kjaer’s role. The age is not high and the experience behind him is good to try to help younger teammates. Given the problems also in terms of injuries in the Rossoneri’s last season, it is right to take precautions with an extra player who can, among other things, occupy both the centre-right and centre-left areas. For characteristics he can remember the German defender. It would be alow cost operation for one of Croatia’s starters who will probably experience the European Championship as a protagonist.
