Real Madrid: Luka Jovic to sign Bernabéu deal next week
The agreement to sign the Eintracht Frankfurt striker is in place but the Bundesliga club want the Serbian to remain focused ahead of Bayern Munich.
Real Madrid plan to finalise a deal for Eintracht Frankfurt and Serbia striker Luka Jovic next week, after the Bundesliga club’s season-defining match against Bayern Munich on Saturday.
Frankfurt face the Bundesliga leaders on the final day of the season with the destination of the title still to be decided, but The Eagles have their own ambitions to see to with Adi Hütter’s side in sixth place, one point behind Bayer Leverkusen and Borussia Mönchengladbach with a Champions League berth at stake.
When the dust settles on the domestic season, Real will tie up a deal for the 21-year-old forward and hope to be able to unveil him as a Madrid player as soon as the Liga season has drawn to a close.
Madrid and Frankfurt have traditionally enjoyed a close working relationship, with young players including Jesús Vallejo, Omar Mascarell and Lucas Torró all cutting their teeth at the Commerzbank-Arena.
Jovic to challenge Benzema before replacing him
The asking price for Jovic is reportedly around the 60-million-euro mark and the addition of the prolific striker, who has bagged 27 goals in 47 appearances this season, will solve an issue that has dogged Madrid for some time: providing genuine competition for Karim Benzema.
The return of Mariano from Lyon has not worked out as expected, the forward finding the net just four times this season, two of those coming against Villarreal two weekend ago. In recent seasons Álvaro Morata, Borja Mayoral and Javier Hernández have attempted to perform the role but none have lived up to expectations at the Bernabéu.
With the capture of Jovic, Real have moved to solve an immediate issue and a longer-term one: the Serbian is 10 years younger than Benzema and a perfect long-term replacement for the Frenchman with the two strikers sharing similar attributes.