Why West Ham should take a gamble on struggling Real Madrid star Luka Jovic
It’s been a tough first season for Luka Jovic at Real Madrid and reports from Marca suggest that the youngster might be open to a temporary move away from the Spanish capital.
West Ham had been interested in the forward earlier (source – Express). They could look to reignite that, with Sebastian Haller not meeting expectations last season.
Profile
Luka Jovic is a 22-year-old Serbian forward who plays for Real Madrid. He started his youth career at Red Star Belgrade in 2005 and progressed through the youth sides before making his debut in May 2014 at the age of just 16.
In the next two seasons, he went on to make 48 appearances, scoring 13 goals and 4 assists. He joined SL Benfica but due to his young age, he was sent to the youth team.
Eintracht Frankfurt secured his services in a two-year loan deal and it was in Germany that Jovic showed his true goal-scoring prowess. For the two seasons he played there, he made 75 appearances and scored 36 goals (source – Transfermarkt).
His loan move was made permanent before he was sold to Real Madrid. However, he is yet to reach the same heights as he did for Frankfurt. Jovic has been a regular feature for the Serbia youth teams and also has 7 senior caps to his name.
Why West Ham should go for Jovic
West Ham struggled for goals last season as they finished an embarrassing 16th in the table. They scored only 49 goals especially with Sebastian Haller failing to find his form.
Michail Antonio was their biggest goal threat and even he didn’t fare much better, with just 10 goals to his name. While goals came from others such as Andriy Yarmolenko, Mark Noble, Robert Snodgrass, etc, they lacked someone who could give them 20 goals a season.
Jovic had struggled because Karim Benzema was in red hot form and chances came at a premium for the Serbian. He played a total of 420 minutes in the whole of La Liga last season. That should give us some idea as to how underused he was (source – Transfermarkt).
Verdict
At 22 years of age, Jovic needs regular game time, something that Zidane can’t promise him. West Ham need someone to carry the bulk of their goals or at least share the duties with Antonio.
Jovic clearly has the makings of a good striker as his previous seasons would suggest. He just needs time away from the limelight and a club like West Ham would suit his requirements. A loan deal is the best for everyone as Real Madrid can keep tabs on his progress and not lose him permanently.
West Ham would get a player who has an eye for goals. It would also mean a fresh start for Jovic. Something that he needs very much at this point.
