Gabrijel Rukavina
Country: Croatia
Date of birth: 16/01/2004 (18 years old)
Place of birth: Zagreb (Croatia)
Height: 180cm
Youth career: Dinamo Zagreb
Current club: Dinamo Zagreb
Squad number: 41
Current national team: Croatia U-19
Position: winger
Preferred foot: right
Market value (by transfermarkt.de): 800.000 €
Tournaments participated in: UEFA Youth League 2022/2023 (6/1)
Contract until: 18.01.2028
Player’s agent: Niagara Sports Company
Transfer rumours: —
Similar type of player: Luis Díaz
Strengths:
– pace 
– acceleration
– dynamism
– dribbling
– technique
– ball control
– agility
– flair 
– off-the-ball movement
To improve:
– able to dispossess opponents thanks to his explosiveness, but his positioning and general defensive reliability are very much improvable
– often gets into good shooting positions but needs to work on his composure, decision-making, and finishing in the final third
– can be a little bit too selfish sometimes
– aerial duels
Style of play:
– inside forward
– player with decent body mass ratio, power, stamina, and natural fitness
– great acceleration, agility, changes of pace, and coordination
– very vertical player who likes to play a direct style by running straight at defenders with pace
– likes to dribble
– often uses his skills to beat defenders, cut inside, and create himself a decent opportunity to score from
– player with very good short dribbling skills, body balance, and ‘quick feet’ who loves 1v1 duels
– very explosive over the first meters
– able to change the rhythm and make spectacular solo runs to make a difference at any time
– creative at his off-the-ball movements/able to make effective off-the-ball/shoulder runs to beat the defensive line
– very strong in 1v1 situations, positive with the ball at his feet, unpredictable, and confident of his skills
– able to dribble and make quick combinations at top speed
– extremely dangerous on the counter thanks to his pace and acceleration
– often makes surging runs into the penalty box
– all-action and energetic
– gets fouled often
– competent indirect set-piece taker
Rukavina cuts inside from the left wing, loses his markers with good body balance, and scores with a powerful finish.
Rukavina with a dynamic run, he enters the penalty area at pace, and gets fouled.
Heatmap by Wyscout:
He is best suited to playing as:
Left winger in 4-3-3.
Video:
Achievements:
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League summary (as for 7 December 2022):
Prva NL 2021/2022: 27 games/4 goals (Dinamo II)
Description:
Gabrijel Rukavina is the son of a former Croatian international Tomislav Rukavina. He is considered to be one of the most talented teenagers in Croatia. He is a product of the famous Dinamo Zagreb youth academy. He is tipped to follow in the footsteps of other talented Dinamo academy graduates who made their debuts in recent years such as Joško Gvardiol, Martin Baturina, Josip Šutalo, Bartol Franjić, Antonio Marin, and Marko Bulat. Gabrijel made his professional debut for Dinamo reserves on 20 August 2021 in the Croatian second division game against NK Osijek II. He is also a regular youth international for Croatia – he started at the U-16 level and now he’s a member of the U-19 setup.
Quotes:
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Football Talent Scout potential rating:
First team material in a top European league.
Links: