It’s that time of the year when all the clubs will be looking keenly into the transfer market to bring some fresh faces to their respective clubs. But Real Madrid, a club known for its nature to spend a lot in the transfer market, has been silent in the market this time. They have signed David Alaba this summer, but so far they haven’t spent a single penny this summer and it looks like they won’t be signing anyone else this summer unless Kylian Mbappe’s signing is possible.
At a time when it’s difficult to spend big in the market due to the pandemic, Real Madrid needs to see their returning loanees and the highly talented Canteranos as their new signings. But not every loanee can make it to the first time, and most of their futures aren’t clear at the moment. One such player who’s returning from a loan spell but their future at Real Madrid isn’t certain is Luka Jovic.
Luka Jovic was signed from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer of 2019, at a time when the club desperately needed a goalscorer. The club expected a lot from him after signing him for 60 million euros, but he couldn’t live up to the expectations of the club. With match time becoming an issue for the 23-year-old, Jovic had to leave for his former club Frankfurt on loan, spending six months away from the Spanish capital. Now he is back, after an average loan spell at Frankfurt, with the club thinking he might be too costly for them to buy him permanently.
At the moment, it does appear like Real Madrid are willing to sell Luka Jovic. He has been linked to AC Milan in recent weeks, with Sky Sports reporting that the Serbian might be Rossoneri’s plan B in case the signing of Olivier Giroud doesn’t go as per plan.
Real Madrid might look to sell Luka Jovic due to financial reasons or due to his disappointing first spell, the club might have their own reasons. But there are many more reasons why Luka Jovic deserves another chance at Real Madrid and should be considered as an option by Carlo Ancelotti. Let us have a look at those reasons.
Luka Jovic wasn’t utilized properly in his first spell at Real Madrid
In January 2021, when Luka Jovic was about to leave on loan, people labeled him as a flop and saw him as a player who couldn’t do well at Real Madrid. There was a claim that Jovic didn’t get the minutes he wanted at Madrid, but people immediately pointed to the fact that he got 32 appearances at Real Madrid.
But context is highly important in this case because it is 32 appearances, not 32 starts. He got a combined total of 1014 minutes at Real Madrid from 2019 to 2021 and got just 208 minutes in the 2020/21 season. 1014 minutes in one and a half seasons isn’t a great number for a player who was signed for 60 million euros.
With Karim Benzema as the first-choice in his position, Jovic wouldn’t have got many chances and at Real Madrid, chances aren’t guaranteed at all. Even Zidane was under high pressure due to a string of bad results, and the pressure of results didn’t give the Frenchman a scope to experiment as the season progressed.
But still, Zidane could’ve trusted Jovic more by ensuring he had continuity in playing time, at least as a substitute or by rotating Benzema. Jovic was only 21 when he was signed by Madrid, and he needed game time to develop. This was something Zidane couldn’t give Jovic because of his won reasons and observations.
Jovic did get some starts under Zidane, but the continuity wasn’t there and he wasn’t used to his strengths. Jovic is great as a second striker, and he could’ve worked a wonder if he was used alongside Benzema, but sadly he couldn’t get many chances to be in the starting XI. He was often used as a lone striker, a role in which he isn’t that comfortable.
He was used as a lone striker for three continuous games in January 2020, but he was heavily isolated in a 4-5-1 system where he didn’t have any support from wings and the presence of five midfielders didn’t work out for him. In spite of that, he assisted Luka Modric is one of those games. He also assisted Casemiro for his first goal against Sevilla with a neat backheel flick. Two of his goals for Real Madrid did come as a lone striker, but they were in games where he was used as a substitute.
He loves to play off a striker, and create danger with some quick combinational play and movement. In the limited chances he got as a second striker alongside Benzema, he was impressive against Villarreal in September 2019 where he created Gareth Bale’s goal with a beautiful backheel flick and was impressive in the games against Real Betis and Real Valladolid at the beginning of the 2020/21 season. But disappointingly, he couldn’t get minutes on a regular basis, and a spell on the bench followed a spell where he could show some signs of improvement.
One can also blame his bad luck at Real Madrid. He has hit the woodwork countless times in the limited game time he got at Real Madrid while seeing narrow offside calls deny him a goal four times. Just when he picked up form in the international break for November 2020 after scoring 3 goals and assisting 2, he got infected with COVID-19 and missed out on some important games when Benzema was unavailable as well.
It would be silly to blame his bad luck as the root cause of his failure at Madrid, but he couldn’t get many chances at Real Madrid. It would be too harsh to judge a player on the basis of just 1000 inconsistently distributed minutes, and Jovic definitely deserves a proper chance to prove himself.
Luka Jovic could be a solution to Real Madrid’s goalscoring woes
It is an open secret that Real Madrid has issues upfront, with Karim Benzema being the only player who can score goals on a consistent basis. Sometimes the lack of support for Benzema in the attack has proved costly for Real Madrid, especially against teams who could nullify the threat of Benzema.
Kylian Mbappe is seen as the perfect solution to Real Madrid’s attacking problems, and rightly so. A goalscoring winger like Mbappe could completely change the way Real Madrid’s attack operates. But at the moment his signing doesn’t look certain, and Real Madrid might be forced to wait for another year to secure his signing.
Real Madrid can’t afford to enter another season with a misfiring attack, and they would have to make some changes to their attack. Luka Jovic could be a solution to that problem, and Carlo Ancelotti might expect to see a shift in the dynamic if he uses the Serbian alongside Karim Benzema in the attack.
Jovic might not have a great 2020/21 season, to show that he deserves a spot in Real Madrid’s XI. Numbers would suggest us the same, with Jovic registering only 4 goals and 2 assists in the 887 minutes he spent at Frankfurt. But his impact is something more than what numbers suggest, and he could be an excellent goalscoring threat.
He is highly useful when used alongside another striker, and that is something which was visible at Frankfurt when he was used alongside Andre Silva. He would often occupy halfspaces and keep the defenders busy, which helps the team by creating some space for other attackers around him. He would also drop deep to help the team progress the ball or bring the ball out of pressure on his own using some neat touches.
He wouldn’t have many touches in the game, but he manages to link up well with those limited touches and manages to create some danger with his superb footballing IQ and great off-the-ball movement. His first touch and particularly his chest control are superb, and his aerial presence makes him a good option for teams reliant on crosses into the box. There shouldn’t be any doubt about his quality, it is something we have witnessed a lot in the 2018/19 season.
Real Madrid hasn’t used a two-striker formation on a regular basis since the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2018. But at a time when the wingers are failing to make an impact, Don Carlo could give that formation a try by using Karim Benzema and Luka Jovic together in a 4-4-2 flat or diamond formation. The presence of two natural goalscorers might help the team a lot, and there would be a high possibility of the system working out well.
Real Madrid need a quality second choice striker
Mariano Diaz has received 680 minutes of playing time in the 2020/21 season, but he could manage to score only one goal all season. Those minutes include some continuous starts as the striker with Benzema out due to an injury in February.
He did get his chances, but he could never convince Zidane with his performances and his disappointing ball-playing abilities made everyone realise that Mariano Diaz might not be a player who is of Real Madrid’s level, despite being a La Fabrica graduate.
He can run hard at his opponents, press well, shoot well, and has a great leap, but those abilities weren’t enough to make him click at Real Madrid. This made the club look to sell him, but he has never looked forward to a departure, despite struggling for minutes at the age of 27. This made it difficult for Real Madrid to sell him, and no club was ready to offer him the 5 million euros salary he currently earns.
Real Madrid might not be able to sell him, but the club can’t compromise on the role of a backup striker just because of their inability to sell a player. And with Erling Haaland’s signing looking impossible this summer, there is a need for Real Madrid to get another striker for this season.
Since the club is tight on budget, they obviously have to look at their loanees or the academy. Borja Mayoral is on a two-year loan at Roma and has another year remaining, while the Castilla striker for 2020/21, Hugo Duro, has returned to Getafe. Juanmi Latasa needs time to improve, and the only other option is Luka Jovic, a player whom Real Madrid want to sell.
And if given a chance, Jovic can be something more than just a backup striker. He can be a solution to Real Madrid’s woes as I mentioned in the previous slide. Jovic isn’t at his best as a lone striker, but he is definitely better than Mariano while used as a lone striker, at least skill-set-wise.
Jovic is a player on whom 60 million was invested, and if used properly he could turn into one of Real Madrid’s best attackers, from a flop. Though it might seem like an exaggeration, Luka Jovic could potentially be a long-term solution for the club. All he needs is a chance, a proper chance, and some trust from the manager’s side.