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At the start of the just concluded season, virtually no one had heard of a certain Luka Jovic who had spent the previous campaign on loan at Frankfurt from Benfica.
However, just a few months into the season, the then 20-year-old Jovic grabbed headlines when he became the youngest player in history to score five goals in a single Bundesliga match, doing so in the 7-1 victory over Fortuna Dusseldorf in October 2018.
His performances over the course of the campaign convinced the Frankfurt hierarchy to activate a clause in his contract and make his move permanent until June 2023.
Expectedly, his displays have not gone unnoticed on the continent and the 21-year-old has been identified as Real Madrid’s main target in attack.
However, despite previous reports that both clubs had agreed to a deal, new reports have emerged that there is no deal yet, with speculation indicating that Chelsea could also be in the race to sign the highly rated Serbian international.
Given the scale of overhauling expected at Real Madrid this summer, the club must go all out in a bid to secure the services of Luka Jovic. In this piece, we shall be taking a look at three reasons why Real Madrid must sign Luka Jovic in the summer.
#3 Age factor
At just 21 years, Luka Jovic is still very much a budding talent who has a lot of development to do. His best years are potentially very much in front of him and all things being equal, he can only get better as time progresses.
If signed, Real Madrid would be acquiring a lethal finisher who still has some years to go before hitting his prime and if he keeps up with this trajectory, he could have at least a decade of top professional football left in him.
Given that Karim Benzema just turned 32 and is rapidly approaching the final stages of his illustrious career, it is imperative that Real Madrid does all within its power to sign the highly rated and young Luka Jovic to lead their attack heading into the future.
#2 His all-round play
In this day and age of focus on total football, attention has been given to a striker’s all-round play more than ever.
Gone are the days when centre-forwards were nothing more than target men stationed in the box whose sole duty it was to find the back of the net and it was in systems like this that stationary forwards like Pipo Inzaghi and Ruud van Nistelrooy thrived.
These days, strikers are expected to contribute to the play as much as they are expected to score and it is for this reason that players who are adept at bringing their teammates into play such as Luis Suarez, Robert Lewandowski and Edin Dzeko are held in high esteem.
This has also been a hallmark of Benzema’s game in the last decade at Real Madrid and Luka Jovic would be a shoo-in fit for Zidane’s system.
Whether as a lone striker or partnering Benzema upfront, Jovic would thrive, given his hold-up abilities and technique on the ball.
At Frankfurt, he formed a devastating attacking trident with Ante Rebic and Sebastian Haller, combining effectively with both men and complementing their abilities.
Despite standing at a modest 5 ft 11’, Luka Jovic is rather strong in the air, while he is also adept with both feet and good at holding up play for teammates to run in and would, therefore, be a perfect foil for Benzema to operate or even as a lone striker.
#1 His goals would come in handy
Two seasons ago, Real Madrid scored 94 goals, but this season, that figure dropped to 63 which was their worst tally domestically in almost two decades.
A major pointer for the drop in productivity in front of goal was the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo, as the Portuguese was the chief goal threat at the club for nine years, with his extraterrestrial abilities in front of goal helping Los Blancos to a plethora of domestic and continental trophies.
Evocatively, Ronaldo was involved in 31 LaLiga goals in his final season at the Bernabeu (which was his lowest tally since his first season at the club) – 26 goals and five assists, and this was the exact difference between Real Madrid’s totals in 2017/2018 and 2018-2019.
The club woefully underestimated the importance of Ronaldo’s goals, bringing in Mariano Diaz as his replacement and the folly of this decision was evident in the fact that the former Lyon man only managed three league goals for the entirety of the campaign.
Karim Benzema had a renaissance of sorts, scoring 21 goals in LaLiga and 30 in all competitions, but other than him, no one else was near being potent enough in front of goal to make a telling contribution.
Goals win matches and the lack thereof was the major factor behind Real Madrid’s woeful underperformance last season and this is where Luka Jovic comes in.
While it would be downright preposterous to suggest that Ronaldo can be replaced – that is downright impossible, the signature of Luka Jovic would go some way to cushioning the impact of his loss.
With 27 goals in all competitions in 2018/2019, he outscored all Real Madrid players bar Benzema and of this, 10 came in the Europa League (joint-highest), where Jovic helped inspire Frankfurt to an unlikely semifinal appearance where they were knocked out painfully by Chelsea on penalties.
He was also the third highest goalscorer in the Bundesliga, scoring 17 goals from 32 league matches to help Die Adler qualify for the Europa League next season.
Given the improvement in the quality of players at Real Madrid, it can only be expected that Jovic would post better numbers in front of goal, taking advantage of the abilities of some truly world-class providers and as such, Real Madrid must sign him, as he could be the solution to their goalscoring woes.
