Real Madrid need to be fair to Luka Jovic this season

Real Madrid have a number of players who were on the periphery of the squad last season and are looking to get a chance to break through in 2021-2022 under Carlo Ancelotti, who is known as something of a “player’s coach”. Ancelotti has a reputation for getting the most out of attacking players, and Luka Jovic is perhaps in the most delicate position of any of Real’s forwards.

The backup striker spent half the 2020-2021 season on loan to his old club Eintracht Frankfurt, where his heroic performances earned him a 60 million euro transfer to Real Madrid as part of a window that included successful signings (Ferland Mendy and Eder Militao), a promising signing (Rodrygo Goes), and a very disappointing signing thus far in Eden Hazard.

Jovic has not contributed much to Real Madrid in his first two seasons. Even his loan to Eintracht was nothing worth praising, as he struggled to get minutes due to Andre Silva’s absolute brilliance in front of goal.

So Jovic is desperate to avoid being labeled the next disappointment at Real Madrid. He is itching to prove he belongs at the biggest club in the world, even as the transfer rumor mill continues to spit out names like Milan or even their bitter rivals Inter.

Real Madrid have not adequately accommodated Luka Jovic

Opportunities for Jovic have been slim for two essential reasons. The first is a name. Karim Benzema. The weightiest of reasons. Benzema is Real’s MVP and one of the top two players in LaLiga. He is one of the best three strikers on this planet. Displacing him is impossible. Even resting him is too risky for a Real Madrid side that cannot count on goals from any other player.

And the second reason is a system. Real Madrid do play in formations other than a 4-3-3, but that is their bread-and-butter. And the other formations they play do not utilize two traditional strikers. On the rare occasion their formation has a “2” in the last line, the player next to Benzema is operating in a more “free” role, whether that is Vinicius Junior, Isco, Hazard, or someone else.

The challenge for Ancelotti is integrating Jovic. How can Real Madrid fit him and Benzema in the same side? If Jovic can have such a great season co-existing with Sebastien Haller in Germany that he earned a move to Madrid, then, surely, he can work with an even more well-rounded striker in Real’s latest iconic No. 9.

It is time for Real to be fair to a player they have invested in. Jovic has given Real Madrid two years of his life, and his development as a professional has not benefited one bit. It is too simplistic to throw anyone under the bus for this; there are a multitude of factors that have led to Jovic’s non-existent role. At the end of the day, though, the facts speak for themselves. Jovic has not even registered 600 LaLiga minutes in his two seasons with Los Blancos. And there’s no way to evaluate a striker fairly with that limited playing time.

Real Madrid need to know what they have before spending in 2022 in what should be a windfall of a transfer window. Ancelotti and Real must be fair to Jovic’s time and see the human side of the game. This is a young striker who needs a little boost from his club and management. And from the perspective of management, it is high time they got a sense for their investment, rather than writing off another check as a “waste” without having obtained a fair sense of what the 23-year-old can provide.