Alen Halilovic The Croatian Journeyman
When you hear the name Alen Halilovic two things come to mind , another long line of irresistible talent synonymous with Lionel Messi the likes of Bojan Krkic , Pieter Pellegri , Giovani dos Santos , Hachim Mastour players who have faded into obscurity after a brief period in the limelight . And secondly the heir apparent to Luka Modric in the Croatian midfield. So what happened to the little genius from Zagreb ? .
By the age of 16 he had already made his debut for Dinamo Zagreb and caught the eye in the biggest derby in the Croatian league , becoming the youngest debutant .
If you thought the records would end there like a lot of British talents who make their debuts at 16 and are never heard of again you are mistaken , as at 17 he forced his way into the Croatian team in a match against Portugal playing in midfield with Modric and Rakitic alongside him .
As the footballing world would treat any emerging talent , the big sharks started to circle but Barcelona got their teeth to him first and snatched him for the themselves. What a steal it was at the time to fend of the likes of man city , Real Madrid , Chelsea and others to get the Croatian wonder kid .
Halilovic had the world at his feet playing in the famed la masia academy and having the privilege to train alongside Messi on some occasions before making one appearance for the senior side . 30 appearances for the B team wasn’t enough for one of Europe’s most precious jewels , as he sought for more game time outside the camp nou and this was where the problems started to unravel for the teenage sensation .
Against the wishes of the Barcelona hierarchy who wanted Halilovic to train with the la masia and develop in the Barcelona way , His dad who was his agent meddled with his sons affairs way to much bringing a personal trainer and pushing for a loan move which eventually happened at Gijon .
The loan move was relatively successfully with 5 goals and 5 assists but it wasn’t enough to convince the Barcelona board and he was ultimately sold to Hamburg in 2016 .
The move to Hamburg started of okay until a coach who didn’t think Halilovic was suited to his style was brought in midway through the season due to their stuttering form . As things didn’t Quite work out he pushed for a move back to Spain to get back his mojo and a transfer to Las Palmas was granted . Yet again at las Palmas his performances were too inconsistent and the loan move didn’t yield the desired result .
What happened next ? Hamburg let the Croatian go on a free , and yet again it felt like the influence of his family and indifferent form was ruining his chances of making it big . Then the most unlikely of moves to Milan came up and yet again another chance for Halilovic to prove himself .
The move to Milan happened in 2018 the year of the World Cup which Halilovic by then was meant to be established in the midfield with modric , Rakitic and kovacic but his career hadn’t lived up to the early hype . At Milan his world seemed to be crashing again , as he barely got a look in failing to get a start nor significant game time . Then a loan more to Dutch club , Hereenvens during the 19/20 season was another shot at proving himself.
The move has yielded 17 appearances and a goal before the season was cut short , but the signs are there that this once golden talent can still make it at the top of football being just 24 . The arrival of Ralf Ragnick in the summer of 2020 could prove the catalyst to his revival and the football world would be hoping his career doesn’t end up with the tag “ players to be called the next Messi and flopped “ .
