Raul Kumar Scout File: Why Is Istra 1961’s 18-Year-Old Centre-Back Their Most Valuable Player?
Quick scout answer: Kumar is Istra 1961’s most valuable asset: an 18-year-old centre-back valued at €1.5m — roughly a seventh of a €10.9m squad on his own — and signed until 2030. Context: Istra finished 2025/26 sixth and took three huge scalps with a young defensive core — 2-1 over champions Dinamo (9 Nov 2025), 2-1 at Hajduk (25 Jan 2026), 2-0 at Rijeka (15 Mar 2026). Public individual minute data is fragmented, so this is a monitoring file. Watch: 2026/27 minute share, Croatia youth call-ups, and the big-club radars — Dinamo’s habit of harvesting young HNL centre-backs is well known.
Representative projection from limited viewing.
Verdict
Active tracking — an outlier on the HNL age/value curve; a regular first half-season multiplies the valuation. Where data is insufficient, no score is issued.
Sources: Transfermarkt squad records, official league data. Data as of 31 July 2026. Original GegenSports graphics.
