Historically, the Balkans refers to the territory in southeastern Europe, which includes the current Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, North Macedonia, Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria. Agree, not the most football regions, but still talented players from here often appear in the strongest European championships. Today we propose to single out the five most successful and bright Balkans in the history of the English Premier League, perhaps the strongest national championship of the entire European continent as of today .Who are these guys? You will find out thanks to the text below, but if you agree with the author or not, please leave a comment.
Luka MODRIć
Citizenship: CroatiaCareer in the Premier League: Tottenham (2008-2012) For Luka Modric, a summer 2008 transfer to Tottenham was his first opportunity to make himself known at the top level. Prior to this, the talented midfielder played in his homeland in the camp of Dinamo Zagreb, where he attracted the attention of Spur breeders. What is true, at that time there were enough applicants for Modric, because of which the Londoners had to shell out as much as 22.5 million euros in order for Luka’s transfer to the British capital to take place. Despite the fact that Modric had no experience of playing in the top championships, he quickly managed to stake out the place of the main player of the team. Luka was actually the architect of the game of that Tottenham, and therefore it is not surprising that the bosses and the coaching staff greatly appreciated this Croatian legionnaire. In the Premier League, Modric had a chance to spend 4 years of his career. Alas, Luka could not climb to the top with Tottenham, as Jacko managed to do in Manchester City, and therefore, at some mostbet-pakistan1.com stage, he wished to continue performing in a more eminent team. Real Madrid appeared on the horizon, which paid 35 million euros for the right to sign Modric. In total, the Croatian midfielder played 160 matches for Tottenham, in which he scored 17 goals and gave 27 assists.
Modric has been playing for Real Madrid since 2012, with won the Champions League four times and the Spanish La Liga twice. In addition, in 2018, Luka became world vice-champion with the Croatian national team, and then received the most prestigious individual award in the world of football, the Golden Ball, becoming the first to break the hegemony of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Dimitar BERBATOV
Citizenship: Bulgaria Premier League career: Tottenham (2006-2008), Manchester United (2008-2012), Fulham (2012-2014) Dimitar Berbatov moved to English football in 2006 from the German Bayer. Then Tottenham had to pay 15.7 million euros for the Bulgarian, but these investments fully justified themselves, because Berbatov managed to quickly enter the cohort of the best strikers of that time. In two seasons for Spurs, Dimitar regularly scored more than ten goals in the Premier League, which attracted the attention of Alex Ferguson. The manager of Manchester United insisted on the transfer of the Bulgarian, as a result of which he moved to Old Trafford for a fantastic 38 million euros at that time. If Berbatov managed to win only one League Cup with Tottenham in 2008, then with United Dimitar won seven trophies in 4 years . In the first 3 seasons, he was the main striker of the Red Devils at all, and in the 2010/11 Premier League he scored 20 goals in 32 fights, becoming the top scorer of the tournament along with Carlos Tevez from Manchester City.
In the summer of 2014, Berbatov left Manchester United, but chose to stay in England. Fulham bought his contract from the Mancunians for 5 million euros, where the Bulgarian spent a season and a half. The first one was especially successful for him, when Dimitar scored 15 goals at once in 33 matches for modest summer residents. After that, the striker went to Monaco, then to PAOK, and after a short trip to India, in April 2018, he ended his career. In total, Berbatov played 229 matches for 3 teams in the Premier League, in which he scored 94 goals and gave 42 assists. Dimitar twice (both times with Manchester United, in the 2008/09 and 2010/11 seasons) became the champion of England.
