Toni Fruk Scout Report

 Date of birth: 9 March 2001

Country: Croatia

Position: Attacking Midfield/Creative Forward

Height: 178cm

Preferred foot: Left

Club: Rijeka

When you think of Croatian footballers several come to mind, Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic, Mateo Kovacic, Ivan Rakitic, Zvonomir Boban just to name a few. One thing in common with all these players from the tiny country is they are all technically brilliant. And as we move into a new era there is another player edging his way onto the list. Rijeka's Toni Fruk.

Bouncing around several youth teams in Croatia and Belgium, Toni eventually found his way to Italian club Fiorentina. H enever made a first team appearance for them, instead moving on loan to several clubs in Croatia before Rijeka signed him in 2023 on a free transfer. And what  abargain that has turned out to be.

Starting 30 of the 33 league games he played this season, Fruk let Fiorentina know what they were missing, scoring 3 times and leading the league in assists with an astonishing 15. The assists are a thing of beauty with Toni often sending a beautifully weighted pass forward for his striker to run on to, often creating from nothing. A common thing to see is Toni pick up the ball, spin and instantly send the ball into a dangerous area. His assist numbers are even more impressive when you see he only makes 20.8 passes per game. His off ball movement is a thing of beauty, often dragging the opposition out of position leaving space for his team mates to run into, or simply freeing himself up to recieve the pass.

Just like most modern creative forwards he is very good at pressing the opposition high up the pitch, recovering the ball 4.1 times per game and making 1.2 tackles per game. A high work rate that doesn't always show up in the stat sheet but is clear to the eye, Fruk is already made for almost all major clubs across Europe.

One thing Toni needs to add to his game is goals, only scoring 3 in the league all season. Part of this is his unwillingness to take a shot in some situations, instead looking to pass to his team mates. Whilst he did pick up a few extra assists this way, one can't help wonder how many goals he would have had he been more willing to pull the trigger. Long shots are not in his tool bag as of yet, failing to score from 42 shots outside of the box. The willingness seems there at times and with a bit of focused training you should see an increase in goals. 2.3 shots are taken per game with only 0.5 making it's way on target. A goal conversion rate of 4% is needing improvement but again this should be fixed with the right amount of training with a set piece coach or striker coach which luckily the majority of clubs in Europe have employed within the club.

Toni's fantastic form has not gone un noticed, with Croatian national team coach Zlatko Dalic calling him up to the squad for this summers European championship. Given the fact Croatia play possession based football that leads to attack I highly expect to see Fruk make appearances and make an impact despite this being the first opportunity with the national team.

Ideal Club:

Given he has just completed his first full season with Rijeka it would be wise to stay with the club for another year. However there is a chance Fruk can be on the move if he impresses in the Euro's. Due to his skill set and the way he plays he can move to any club essentially in the top 5 leagues. A move to a club in Germany seems to be the ideal way to progress his career. Anyone out of Wolfsburg, Frankfurt or Augsburg would be solid but depending on how things happen a move to Bayer Leverkusen can't be ruled out, given Xabi Alonso's attacking style of play and his ability to make up for his players weaknesses and highlight their strengths. Another possibility could be a move back to Italy with Atalanta who play very attacking football, counter attacking with high pressing and Toni Fruk can easily walk into their style of football.