Why Real Madrid will allow €60m Jovic to make free Fiorentina transfer
Robin Bairner
- 6 Jul 2022 11:30 BST
- 3 min read
Real Madrid are poised to cut their losses with Luka Jovic in the most spectacular fashion, with the 24-year-old striker set to leave for Fiorentina on a free transfer.
Marca reports that the Serbia international will sign for the Serie A club for absolutely nothing, despite having joined Madrid from Eintracht Frankfurt for €60 million in the summer of 2019.
Jovic has fallen miles short of what was expected of him at the Bernabeu and yet still has three years to run on his contract.
His performances, though, have been so abject that he will be allowed to go without a fee.
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Jovic’s Real Madrid flop was rather predictable. Although he shone for Frankfurt in the 2018/19 season, establishing himself as a future sensation of European football by netting 27 goals in 48 matches in all competitions, he punched above his weight. Indeed, FootballTransfers’ valuation of him in July 2019 shows he was worth only €13.5m – less than a quarter of what Real Madrid paid for him.
Nevertheless, Los Blancos invested heavily in the forward, who was supposed to become the heir to Cristiano Ronaldo in the Spanish capital. Instead, he managed only three goals in 51 matches for the club and fell out of favour so rapidly that he was sent back to Frankfurt for the second half of the 2020/21 campaign. He scored four times in just 18 matches there.
Given there are still three years left on his Real Madrid deal, why are they not ready to persist with him?
Real Madrid's calculated gamble
Marca reports that Jovic’s wages are the issue here. He commands a huge salary of around €10m per season. By allowing him to leave for free, they are saving themselves €30m.
By releasing him from his contract, they are also making it possible for a middle-ranking club to sign him. This is required because his performances at Madrid have made him toxic to Europe’s big guns.
Teams like Fiorentina, though, cannot afford both a transfer fee and large wages for such players, so by effectively waiving the former, they are allowing the Serie A club to give the player the salary he expects, thereby making him happier to move.
By allowing Jovic to move to Fiorentina and accepting they have made a huge mistake, Real Madrid are effectively cutting their losses on one of the worst deals in the history of the club.
