A host of Europe’s biggest clubs were vying for his signature
Real Madrid have reportedly secured the signing of Eintracht Frankfurt’s wonderkid Luka Jovic, who has been turning heads all season long thanks to standout performances in both the Bundesliga and the club’s Europa League campaign.
Just 21 years old, Jovic has notched nine goals in 13 games during Frankfurt’s run in the competition, including the opener against Chelsea in the first leg of their semi-final tie on Thursday.
In the Bundesliga, where Frankfurt have been the surprise package this season after losing their previous manager Niko Kovac to Bayern Munich in the summer, he has scored 17 goals and laid on five assists with the club currently sitting in the fourth and final Champions League qualification spot.
It does appear, however, that Jovic won’t be around to experience Champions League football at the Commerzbank-Arena with the news that Madrid have already agreed on his €60 million (£51m) transfer ahead of the upcoming window.
According to Spanish newspaper AS, who are reporting the deal, 48 million euros (£41m) will go to the Bundesliga club with the remaining 12 million (£10.2m) of the fee heading in Benfica’s direction.
Frankfurt have loaned Jovic from Benfica for the past two seasons and due to a permanent signing clause in his contract will be able to purchase the Serbian international for a fee believed to be around €7 million (£5.96m), before immediately selling him on to Los Blancos for almost nine times that amount.
Not a bad bit of business at all.
🦅 Luka Jović this season = 🔥🔥🔥
⚽️0⃣8⃣
👕1⃣2⃣#UEL | @eintracht_eng pic.twitter.com/7oRjRyMK2K— UEFA Europa League (@EuropaLeague) April 29, 2019
It is believed that in his first season at least Jovic will primarily rotate with current striker Karim Benzema, before eventually supplanting the Frenchman as Real’s first choice number nine.
He’s the second signing the club have made ahead of the transfer window as they look to reinvigorate a squad that has disappointed on all fronts following the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus at the start of the season.
Commanding 21-year-old centre back Eder Militao is also moving to the club for a fee of €50 million (£42.6m) from Porto and you can’t help but suspect that Zidane’s transfer business isn’t even half done yet.
