Newcastle and West Ham United are among a group of Premier League clubs considering a €5 million move for Tino-Sven Susic after the highly regarded Bosnia and Herzegovina international unexpectedly became available for a transfer to England.
Susic, whose development at Standard Liege then Hajduk Split has been closely monitored by Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, had committed to joining Internazionale in the current window.
“I would love to play for Inter…I believe and pray that it will happen,” said Susic at the beginning of January, as per Goal.
The Serie A club, however, elected to sign Marcelo Brozovic instead, completing the Croatia midfielder’s €8m transfer from Dinamo Zagreb on Saturday and returning Susic to the January marketplace.
In addition to the respective technical staff at Newcastle and West Ham, Stoke City manager Mark Hughes and West Bromwich Albion’s recently appointed head coach Tony Pulis are also considering making an offer to Hajduk, who had previously agreed a fee of €5m with Inter for the versatile 22-year-old.
Initially employed in a defensive midfield role by the Prva HNL club, the left-footed Susic has been employed on the wing by Hajduk and developed into a quick and direct attacking midfielder. This season he has scored five goals in 17 appearances for Hajduk, who stand third in Croatia’s top division.
The nephew of former Bosnia coach Safet and son of former Yugoslavia international Sead, Susic grew up in Belgium, representing his country of residence as a teenager alongside several of their current crop of elite Champions League performers. He announced his decision to represent Bosnia at full-international level in 2013 and was named by his uncle in their Brazil 2014 World Cup squad last summer.
In the end, Susic appeared in two of Bosnia’s three Group F games in Brazil last summer, starting in left midfield for the 3-1 defeat of Iran which concluded their campaign. His performances there and continued fine form in Croatia led Inter to negotiate a deal with Hajduk that Susic’s camp expected to go through this month.
Agent Sabatino Durante told Tuttomercato earlier this month (translation as per Football Italia).
By Duncan Castles
(Source: transfernews)
