With his Inter Milan side struggling again this season, and the youngster having second thoughts about his future at the club, is now the time to rekindle the old flame and bring Mateo Kovacic to Manchester United?

Last month, Croatia national team captain Darijo Srna advised his team-mate that leaving the Nerazzurri for pastures new would be in the best interests of his career. Speaking to 24 sata newspaper, via Inside Futbol, Srna openly stated how he thinks staying at the San Siro is hampering Kovacic’s development and that there are better options for him.

“Kovacic is one of the best young players in Italy,” Srna said. “But if he wants to prosper, he must change his path. He would improve quicker if he were at a better club.”

Now, Srna surely knows better than to go public with such a strong opinion about another player’s business seemingly out of the blue. The 32-year-old captains both Shakhtar Donetsk and Croatia, and if he said that, he must have had a reason. There should be little doubt that he had also discussed it with Kovacic beforehand.

But wasn’t he just stating the obvious?

Inter are a far cry from their glory days under Jose Mourinho, who brought them the Serie A, Coppa Italia and the Champions League treble back in 2010. They failed to qualify for the Champions League in three consecutive years and this season they don’t even look like proper candidates for a spot in the elite continental competition. Currently they occupy 11th place in the league table.

It remains to be seen whether the recent return of Roberto Mancini at the helm—announced just four days after Srna’s statement—can shake things up a bit and improve the club’s fortunes. There has been little evidence to support that so far, but it’s still very early to make any conclusions.

Meanwhile, Kovacic made headlines last weekend for scoring a wonderful volleyed shot in a 2-2 draw against Lazio at home. But earlier this month, when reports of him signing a contract extension with Inter appeared, he was quick to deny them.

“We’re still talking about it,” he said, via Football Italia. “I want to renew, but I already have a contract until 2017.”

At the same time, Inter director Piero Fassone admitted, that both Kovacic and Mauro Icardi may be allowed to leave should an offer from a big club arrive. “I’ve learned that no player is off the market in football,” he told Corriere dello Sport, via the Daily Express. “If a big club arrives that wants them, at some point it would be right to make them happy.”

Kovacic has been on Manchester United’s radar for a long time. They have been closely following his progress since he was with Dinamo Zagreb and had considered bidding for him back in January 2012, as per Goal’s Greg Stobart, but they gave up upon learning about the £10 million price tag. A week later, the youngster was snapped up by Inter Milan.

The interest was renewed last summer and a €30 million offer was rejected by Inter, according to Corriere dello Sport, via Manchester Evening News. Could now finally be the time to complete the mission and bring the much coveted midfielder to Old Trafford?

Surely one of the brightest prospects the club has seen in recent years, Kovacic is currently Inter’s best rated player, according to WhoScored.com, and there’s little doubt he has all the qualities to succeed at the top level. He’s still only 20 and very much a work in progress; finding the right position for him in the team has been one of the main issues during his two-year stay in Milan, while giving him the No. 10 shirt previously vacated by Wesley Sneijder, and expecting him to lead the team put an enormous pressure on the kid’s shoulders.

Moreover, Inter are not exactly best known for developing young talent, and the team may not offer the ideal setting for Kovacic to flourish. He has improved since joining the club, but the impression is it all could have happened faster, and that the player could have achieved more already with the right guidance.

Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal knows how to deal with young players and Kovacic has world-class potential, and he can still be moulded into a number of roles for the team. He certainly could—and should—be better than either Juan Mata or Ander Herrera in no more than a year or two. He also has the experience of playing in a 3-5-2 system, which is not insignificant.

Darijo Srna’s statement suggests Kovacic might be planning his future away from San Siro and there has been no further news about him possibly extending his contract with Inter. If he doesn’t, it may mean Inter will want to cash in. If United still want him, they should try to get him now—or they might regret it a few years down the line…

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