Maro Katinić

Katinić is one of the biggest if not the biggest defensive talent right now. At only 16-years-old he's an absolute tank. Born in Rijeka, he played for their academy till 2019 when he moved to Zagreb. He's currently part of Dinamo U17 but already featured for the U19's.

He is very much a modern CB. Physically strong for his age, great technical ability for a defender and very quick despite his physical build. Very tough to beat in 1on1 duels. Always looks to pick out a pass, likes to play out from the back. His aerial ability is insane for his age, in a sample size of 5 games, he attempted 4.8 aerial duels p90 & won 90% of them!

His above average speed for a centre-back and the impressive technical ability gives him the option to play as a right-back also. He mainly played there for youth level where they lack.

He has always been ahead of his peers, making his Croatia U17 debut at the early age of 15.

Croatia U15 - 2

Croatia U16 - 3

Croatia U17 - 9

According to @cmdotcom, he is already on the radar of the biggest Italian clubs like Juventus, Napoli, Atalanta from Serie A and even Barcelona, RB Salzburg and Wolfsburg. He's hot on the market and his good plays haven't gone unnoticed by Europe's biggest clubs.

We can take a lot of parallels with the current Dinamo Zagreb star Joško Gvardiol. They're both classic examples of a modern CB, they like to play out from the back & are progressive. Both are quick & technically great which allows them to play on the full-back positions.

Gvadriol (left-footed) on the left-back position and Katinić (right-footed) on the right-back position, a position the Croatian NT lacks the most. In the youth, they both played in the midfield which probably developed their impressive technical ability. Later were converted.

The area where Katinić outshines Gvardiol is his aerial ability, something Gvardiol always lacked but has improved over the past year. Last year's info says he is 184 cm tall, but has probably grown and still will.

Last thing to point out that he himself says he's very mature considering he lost his father at a young age. I always say mentality is 90% of success, that coupled with his talent could bring him very far... His next step is Dinamo U19 but I wouldn't be surprised considering his physicals if he featured for Dinamo's B team already next season. World-class talent.