Manchester City snubbed by 19-year old Croatian who has been dubbed the new Luka Modric

ANTE CORIC has been dubbed the new Luka Modric but he wasn’t about to have his head turned by a Premier League side too easily as he sensationally turned down Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City.

Reports in Croatia had suggested that City had a bid of £15m accepted by Dinamo Zagreb and had been granted the chance to discuss terms with the player himself.

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However such talks proved fruitless after it became apparent that City could not offer the ambitious 19-year old the game time he wanted.

The Manchester club reportedly planned to send Coric on loan to Granada in Spain who are managed by Guariola’s friend Paco Jemez.

But this idea was rejected outright by Coric’s representatives who did not feel the Spanish club were good enough for the 19-year old.

Coric started in Dinamo Zagreb’s 2-0 loss against Guardiola’s Bayern Munich side last season in the Champions League.

Manchester City have recently been trying to offload a number of players with Joe Hart, Yaya Toure and Samir Nasri all up for the chop.

The sales of Toure and Nasri would free up space for Coric although the club still has a number of strong options in his position.

Not to mention the club is limited to 17 ‘non-homegrown’ players – the number currently stands at 19.

This would suggest the club would be unable to find room for the 19-year old this season.

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The central midfielder made 28 league appearances last season, scoring 4 goals and making 5 assists for Zagreb.

In 2015, Coric was named the best young Crotian player of the year and he made his debut for his national side in May earlier this year.

He was selected in Croatia’s Euro 2016 squad but was an unused substitute throughout as Croatia were knocked out by eventual winners Portugal in the first knockout round.

City now have less than a week to try and convince the midfielder to change his mind with the transfer window closing on Wednesday night.

But it is clear that Coric would prefer to move to a club that is willing to offer him a first team role and not simply make him into a squad option.