Croatia sweat on Corluka

Croatian defender Vedran Corluka last night emerged as a possible injury concern for the side’s opening Group C game against the Republic of Ireland in Poznan on Sunday.

The Tottenham Hotspur player, who spent the second-half of last season on loan at Bayer Leverkusen, will travel to Warsaw from their base in nearby Warka today to undergo tests on a thigh strain picked up yesterday in training.

“It should be okay, he just felt something in his muscle,” said Croatian coach Slaven Bilic. “Based on the prognosis it shouldn’t be anything serious.”

Bilic has already had to rearrange his plans this week with star striker Ivica Olic ruled out for the duration of the tournament with a hamstring injury — described by the coach as a “disaster” — and subsequently replaced by Nikola Kalinic.

And there was more disruption to best-laid plans yesterday with back-up midfielder Ivo Ilicevic also removed from the squad for the tournament as a result of a knock suffered some days ago but which has only now been revealed as a calf muscle problem.

“I am sorry about Ilicevic,” said Bilic. “We have lost another important player who is different to most of our team.” Ilicevic has been replaced in the squad by Šime Vrsaljko who was already preparing for the new season with Dinamo Zagreb.

Meanwhile, Corluka’s fellow countryman, Niko Kranjcar, has completed his transfer to Dynamo Kiev, the Ukrainian club have announced.

The 27-year-old midfielder revealed on Wednesday that Tottenham had reached an agreement with Dynamo over a deal and his new employers confirmed the transfer in a statement on their website yesterday.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp signed Kranjcar from Portsmouth in 2009 and he made a big impact in his first campaign, scoring five goals and providing numerous assists from the left flank.

But the emergence of Gareth Bale meant the Croatian dropped down the pecking order the following season and he only made nine Premier League starts in 2011/12, although his campaign was curtailed by a knee injury.

Although Tottenham are yet to confirm the sale of their player, it is anticipated the deal will be officially signed off once the international transfer window opens on Saturday.

Kranjcar admitted he will leave Tottenham with a heavy heart, but said the time was right to move after he grew frustrated at the lack of first-team opportunities at White Hart Lane.

“I wanted to play more but I played with some great footballers. Harry Redknapp has been a big part of my career — he is the one who brought me to Portsmouth and believed in me there.”