Soccer Football - Champions League - Group D - Real Madrid v Inter Milan - Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain - December 7, 2021 Real Madrid's Luka Jovic in action with Inter Milan's Samir Handanovic REUTERS/Susana Vera
Leeds United have asked about a loan move for Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic, according to 90Min journalists Graeme Bailey and Jack Gallagher.
The lowdown
Jovic is reportedly set to join Fiorentina on a temporary basis, his second loan spell away from the Santiago Bernabeu. Los Blancos loaned him back to former club Eintracht Frankfurt in the second half of the 2020/21 season.
They had paid £56.7million to sign him from the Bundesliga outfit in the summer of 2019. But for that investment, they’ve received a pretty dismal return of just three goals in 51 appearances.
Transfer insider Dean Jones told GiveMeSport ahead of the window that Leeds ‘are going to go for a striker’.
The latest
Leeds are apparently one of three Premier League sides to enquire about a deal for Jovic, alongside West Ham United and Brentford.
However, the player is apparently ‘unconvinced’ by the idea of a move to the English top-flight, and looks set to move to Serie A.
The verdict
You may question Leeds’ interest in a player who’s scored just seven goals since his blockbuster move to Real Madrid (if you include the four he netted on loan).
However, Jesse Marsch will surely be looking back at the player he was in 2018/19, when he bagged 27 goals in all competitions (nearly half his career total of 60) and made both the Bundesliga and Europa League Teams of the Season.
Mladen Krstajic, the then Serbia boss, even compared him to Luis Suarez at that time.
You’d imagine that the player’s confidence has been severely damaged by the events of the past three seasons – he wouldn’t be the first to suffer such a fate in Madrid – and so Marsch would have had to build that back up if he was to unlock anything like his best form.
Leeds are clearly fans of the £14.4million-rated 24-year-old, so it’s possible that they will renew their interest at the end of his loan period with Fiorentina, depending on how he fares. The door isn’t necessarily closed on this one yet.
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