Eintracht Frankfurt ST Luka Jovic
As with Martin Odegaard, Luka Jovic received a loan deal away from Real Madrid in the winter transfer window after it became clear that he would not get many minutes. It’s not that Zinedine Zidane hated him. Not at all. That’s all weird fan speculation. The reality is that Karim Benzema was never going to be on the bench due to his importance, while Zizou could not appreciably change the system and still get good results with mounting pressure on him and the players.
So Jovic returned to Eintracht Frankfurt. His first game was like a dream, as he scored two goals off the bench against FC Schalke 04. But those were goals against a shambolic side that has literally been the worst team in Europe’s top five over the last season-and-a-half and the laughingstock of German football. Jovic then scored again two games later off the bench against Arminia Bielefeld, who are also on the below-average side.
Therefore, his only goal against a strong Bundesliga side came against Wolfsburg, who had a rare off night defensively in a 4-3 loss to the Eagles. With 10 bench appearances compared to 8 starts, Jovic could barely crack the lineup due to Andre Silva’s incredible performances. It was a mediocre loan spell for Jovic, all told, and his future will be determined by the quality of transfer offers Real Madrid receive.
Rating: 5.5
Roma ST Borja Mayoral
Our final loanee is Borja Mayoral, who was also by far the best Real Madrid loanee of the 2020-2021 season. And Zinedine Zidane saw it coming all the way, considering he wanted to keep Mayoral over Luka Jovic.
Mayoral was decent last season for Levante, but he truly broke out this season for the Giallorossi with 17 goals and 4 assists between Serie A and the Europa League. The 24-year-old took perfectly to life in Italy’s capital, lighting up Serie A with ruthless efficiency in front of goal.
Roma will hold onto Mayoral for another season on loan before deciding whether or not to buy him permanently. His future between Real Madrid and Roma will therefore be hard to predict, because who knows how Jose Mourinho will use or value him? But after such a good 2020-2021 campaign in Italy, we can’t help but give Mayoral the benefit of the doubt.
Rating: 8.0