Real Madrid: What Zinedine Zidane told Luka Jovic about his 2020/21 role

Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic is not a regular starter for the club, and that isn’t going to change in 2020-2021.

Karim Benzema isn’t just a club legend for Real Madrid. The No. 9 is one of the world’s most complete center forwards and was both the team’s leading goal-scorer and assist-provider. He isn’t sitting on the bench often, so 2019 summer signing Luka Jovic will continue to find it difficult to displace him.

Jovic did, however, receive back-to-back starts for the first time at Real Madrid when he started alongside Benzema against Real Betis and Real Valladolid. The Serbian international drew a red card in the first game and played a more complete match in the second.

How often can Madridistas expect to see Jovic on the pitch going forward? That’s a more difficult question to answer, and loaned striker Borja Mayoral certainly fanned the flames when he said at a recent Roma press conference that Real Madrid wanted to keep him and sell Jovic.

Now, MARCA’s Jose Felix Diaz informs fans that Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane told Luka Jovic that his 2020-2021 role would not be “too different” from the role he played in 2019-2020 for Los Blancos.

Real Madrid may be prioritizing Erling Haaland over Luka Jovic long term

It’s a curious situation for both Jovic and Zidane, especially seeing as how Zidane was the one who apparently asked the club to sign Jovic. And now, Jovic is on the periphery, perhaps even favored less than the now-loaned Mayoral. (Since Jovic has more upside, Real Madrid made the right choice to stick with Jovic.)

With so many different rumors, reports, and quotes, it’s hard to get to the truth. But one thing is clear. Real Madrid have eyes on Borussia Dortmund star Erling Haaland, who is a better goal-scorer and athlete than any of the players mentioned here. And outside of out-and-out strikers, Los Blancos continue to view Kylian Mbappe as their most important transfer target in 2021.

So for this season, we can’t expect much for Jovic. He will surely play more than he did last season, but he won’t be a featured player for Los Blancos. Maybe that changes with some good performances, but Jovic seems to have a lot to prove to the manager.