Thoughts on the newest signing: Stipe Perica

I watch and follow the Prva HNL Liga (Croatian League) very often and have seen a lot of great players come and go. The Croatian league has developed some great footballers, most notably Luka Modric and Davor Suker. Alen Halilovic and Stipe Perica are some of the newer talents that have been developed by Croatian football and look likely to move to bigger clubs. Halilovic is linked with Real, United, City, Chelsea, Spurs, etc. while Perica was linked with a few European teams and Croatian giants Dinamo Zagreb. A few days ago, his move to Chelsea from NK Zadar was confirmed. I’ve seen him play many times and have decided to inform/educate you of our newest signing.
Playing 28 games in Croatian side Zadar and scoring ten times, was enough for Chelsea FC scouts to sign him.
The 18-year-old player also took part in Croatian U-20 team at the World Cup in Turkey in June, entering the pitch in three games and scoring once. The news on him moving to Chelsea sounded surprising to many in Croatia, but seeing it at the official site of the London club has made them realized Stipe Perica lives his dream.

Peter Hall said that “Perica’s directness and aerial ability took many by surprise in Turkey during the U20 WC. Another novice, Perica turned 18 whilst taking part at the World Cup, and has been mightily impressive in his first season in professional football. With eight goals from just 14 starts in his debut season, the youngster has had to carry his side at times, and has shown he can handle such responsibility with ease. He was a major contender to win the tournament golden boot thanks to his natural striking instincts, and with Chelsea being his newest club, he will be hoping he finds he scoring touch wherever his goes next season (possibly loan back to Zadar).”

Here’s what I have to say: Perica is a very good player, of that there is no doubt. His best attribute by far is his heading ability, as it really is brilliant on how he is able to direct his headers so accurately with so much power. What’s more, he does it week in and week out. He’s a set piece’s dream, as he just seems to score from them. However, he can also strike a ball very well. Once again, his accuracy of the ball is wonderful, as he seems to find corners of the goal tremendously leaving the keeper no chance at all. In his local club of Zadar it took him a season to get up and running and you have to ask yourself, if he came to the Premier League, would he be given 2-3 seasons to settle down? Yes. He is a very good player as I’ve said and in my honest opinion, he would fit into the English game, as it isn’t too physical of a league for him. It is probably a league where players come under way too much scrutiny, because after all, it is the best league in the world. However, being that he is a young player that was signed for a small fee and has a lot to prove, he won’t face much scrutiny. I may be wrong though, and he could play in England and fail to set it alight, much like Markovic did. However, I personally think that Perica’s style is more suited to La Liga, and not necessarily that of the English PL. However, he is a superb player and one I really enjoy watching. However, he is very young and has a long way to go. He can certainly adjust to the PL a la Lukaku.
Here is a video of Stipe Perica, as well. Enjoy.:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JW2Q2QehLiY