Manchester United & Aston Villa battling for Como’s Martin Baturina | OneFootball

As reported by Sky Italia, Como forward Martin Baturina is attracting interest from Premier League sides Aston Villa and Manchester United.

It has been an eventful couple of days for the 23-year-old, who opened the scoring for Croatia during their World Cup opener against England. It went in vain, however, as the Three Lions came back to win 4–2.

That said, Baturina’s heroics on world football’s grandest, most-watched stage will only boost his already-rising value. Despite having completed his first season in Serie A, the Dinamo Zagreb academy graduate has been attracting interest for a few months.

Leeds United and Bayern Munich have inquired about Baturina, with Como having already rejected a €50m offer for him.

The versatile forward had a trying start to life at the Giuseppe Sinigaglia last season before performances in the second half helped him finish the campaign on a promising note as Como ended up clinching Champions League football. In his first season in Lombary, Baturina registered eight goals and four assists in 34 appearances across all competitions.

Having arrived at Como from Dinamo Zagreb last summer for €18 million, Baturina’s current contract, fetching him a gross annual salary of €930,000, runs until June 2030.

No better time for the shop window

The World Cup makes for an excellent opportunity for clubs to raise the market value of their players, regardless of whether they consider them deadwood or indispensable.

It’s one of the oldest tricks in the book, and many seasoned watchers know that big performances at the quadrennial tournament hardly guarantee results week in, week out in club football. But the narrative pull of the sport’s greatest event is inescapable.

Baturina had already been attracting interest, as is wont for most Como first-team players at the moment. A goal in the World Cup opener must have further put his admirers on high alert. Croatia may have lost the first game, but they are seasoned operators when it comes to going deep into the tournaments. Add on top of that the fact that a third-place finish could take them to the knockouts, and Baturina will feel he has enough opportunities to further make a name for himself.

One would argue that continuing at Como for a while longer could only help Baturina in his career, but once interest from the Premier League materialises, it’s only a matter of time, and things these days only move sooner rather than later.

Anshuman Joshi | GIFN