Real Madrid need goals against Galatasaray to rescue their Champions League campaign… but £53m man Luka Jovic WON’T be trusted to supply them after slow start to life in Spain
- Real Madrid splashed out £53m to sign Jovic from Eintracht Frankfurt
- But the Serbian striker has yet to get off the mark for the Spanish giants
- Jovic netted in a league game against Osasuna but it was ruled out by VAR
- Real are in desperate need of a win as they take on Galatasaray on Tuesday
- But it’s unlikely Zinedine Zidane will place his trust in Jovic to supply the goals
When Luka Jovic signed for Real Madrid last summer one question hung over his presentation like a cloud – why did Bayern Munich not sign him?
They usually hoover up the Bundesliga’s best talent and their coach Nico Kovac knew Jovic well having signed him on loan in 2017 at Eintracht Frankfurt.
Eleven games into the season and with no goals to his name the doubts have not dispersed.
It’s been a disappointing start to life at Real Madrid for their £53m striker Luka Jovic
The Serbian frontman has yet to score for Real Madrid since arriving from Eintracht Frankfurt
On Tuesday night, Real Madrid need goals against Galatasaray and Gareth Bale’s injury has left a vacant spot in the front three but it would be a surprise if it was Jovic filling it and not James Rodriguez or Vinicius.
There was speculation on late night television in Spain on the eve of the must-win game that the Spanish club are trying to work a loan swap with Bayern Munich – Jovic for Robert Lewandowski in January.
The idea is seen as fanciful in Germany – Lewandowski’s contract at Bayern runs until 2023 and if they did not want Jovic in the summer why would they want him now?
When he joined Madrid in the summer it was after a superb season at Eintracht Frankfurt where he scored 17 in 32 appearances in the Bundesliga, adding 10 goals in 14 Europa League matches including the semi-final against Chelsea.
But that goal against Chelsea is currently the last one he has scored in club colours.
Real coach Zinedine Zidane is unlikely to play him despite the need to beat Galatasaray
Real, pictured training in Istanbul ahead of Tuesday’s game, desperately need three points
Having lost to Paris Saint-Germain and drawn with Club Brugge, Real are bottom of the group
The goal Jovic scored for Eintracht Frankfurt against Chelsea in last season’s Europa League semi-final was the last he netted in club colours
His poor start has surprised some in Germany. Physically strong and capable of scoring left foot, right foot or with his head inside the area no one believes he has lost his natural instincts but the view is that he is also a player who needs the confidence of a coach and regular starts – going to Madrid aged 22 was always going to be a risk.
The luck has not gone for him either. In late September he started in a midweek game against Osasuna as Zinedine Zidane rested his senior players. Jovic might have scored in the first half but lifted his shot just over from the edge of the six-yard box.
In the second half he did put the ball in the back of the Osasuna net after running onto a pass from Lucas Vazquez.
To the naked eye he was level with the last defender but when VAR reviewed the goal it judged him to have been the end of a bootlace offside.
Jovic thought he’d opened his account for Real Madrid when he found the net against Osasuna
But the Serbian was denied by the Video Assistant Referee having just strayed offside
He was back in the team at the weekend but this time there were no near misses. He was anonymous until taken off on 65 minutes.
The Marca verdict on his performance made for depressing reading: ‘There was news of him in the first half an hour. When he did appear it was only to give the ball away. It’s a worry because he does not give even one reason to believe in him.’
There were stories as early as August suggesting Madrid were looking to loan at their £58million acquisition. They were ahead of their time – he had not long returned from injury. And they are still not ready to give up on the player just yet but it is hard to see how he makes a place for himself.
One of his biggest problems is the enduring level of performance from Karim Benzema. He top scored with 30 goals in 51 games last season and has made his way on to the long Balon d’Or shortlist.
All the time Real Madrid are playing either 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3, which Zidane’s feels he has to do if he is to get the best out of Hazard, then the only way Jovic gets into the team is if he can dethrone Benzema, and there is now a long line of strikers who have tried and failed to do that.
Karim Benzema and Jovic have a debate during the defeat to Real Mallorca last weekend
A goal to save Real’s flagging Champions League campaign will endear Jovic to the fans
He may get a chance from the bench tonight and if he can score the goal that puts Real Madrid’s Champions League campaign back on track then things could change for him. But this still feels like the wrong player for the wrong club.
Bayern coach Nico Kovac is a big Jovic fan. He persuaded Jovic’s dad that his son should sign on loan for Eintracht Frankfurt back in 2017.
The problem with Jovic’s chances of ending up at Bayern this January is that Kovac is still not really trusted to have much influence on signings at Bayern – that much was evident in the summer when Bayern passed on the signing.
If he could start scoring everything would change, but to start scoring he needs to start playing and that, at Real Madrid can sometimes be the most difficult thing.
