‘Exhausted’: £150k-a-week Chelsea player admits he’s really tired going into second half of the season

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Chelsea’s Mateo Kovacic has admitted he’s “exhausted” going into the second half of the season.

Kovacic, who’s had a very busy World Cup in Qatar, has already racked up a lot of minutes so far this campaign.

The £150,000-a-week central midfielder made 17 Chelsea appearances in the first chunk of the season before the winter break. He’s since started six out of six games for Croatia at the World Cup, who wrap up their tournament this afternoon in a third place play-off game against Morocco.

For a player that’s struggled with minor injuries over the years, his workload is a slight concern.

Kovacic admitted he’s exhausted

Kovacic has explained before Croatia’s game this Saturday that he, along with his international teammates, are physically shattered.

“We are exhausted, many of us will be exhausted when we come back to our clubs but this is what we love and we will come back, rest and then focus on the next six months for our clubs,” Kovacic said, as quoted by Football London.

There’s no way Chelsea boss Graham Potter can ignore these kinds of comments.

Kovacic’s output at the World Cup has been incredibly high, so it makes sense to be careful with his minutes when the Blues are back in action later this month.

Journalist Simon Phillips recently claimed that Chelsea plan to enter contract negotiations again with Kovacic post-World Cup.

There’s no doubt Blues supporters will be eager to watch their Croatian maestro back on the pitch for them and flexing his muscles. Potter simply has to be smart with his management of him, though.

Jorginho, who’s had his feet up resting during the winter break, should play an important role in the immediate fixtures that lie just around the corner.

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