Luka Jovic's career has gone from bad to worse since leaving Real Madrid

Suraj Radia

• 22 Sept 2022 19:08 BST
• 4 min read

Luka Jovic was a €60 million signing for Real Madrid just three years ago but the striker is now playing for Fiorentina and reports have suggested he could already find himself out of contention for his new side.

Jovic signed a two-year deal with the Serie A outfit this summer on a free transfer, with Madrid paying half of the 24-year-old's €5m salary.

Fiorentina were hoping Jovic replicated the form of fellow Serbian Dusan Vlahovic, who scored 44 goals in 98 games before joining Juventus for €80m last summer.

Despite Jovic netting on his debut against Cremonese, he has failed to score in his nine subsequent appearances, including a missed penalty against Juventus.

Fiorentina sit 10th in Serie A having scored just seven goals in seven games and reports in Italy have claimed Jovic could be moved on as early as January as the club look to solve their goalscoring woes, although Real will be entitled to 50% of any fee.

Jovic has pleaded for patience after his slow start, telling the media: "I expected my season to be turbulent and after the first games it is clear that it will be like that.

"It will take time for me to find my form, to stabilise myself, because I haven't played for a long time.

"I'm here to work, to try to fit in as soon as possible with the rest of the team, but I'm sure everything will improve game by game.

"Expectations are high when a Real Madrid player arrives at Fiorentina. It is normal that the fans expect him to make a difference from the first moment. But I haven't played in three years and it's not surprising that it takes time to get back."

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From €60m wonderkid to unwanted freebie

Jovic was prolific for Serbia's youth teams and had became Red Star Belgrade's youngest ever goalscorer at the age of 16, prompting a move to Benfica in 2016.

The Serbian failed to break into Benfica's first team and was loaned to German side Eintracht Frankfurt for two years where he had his big breakthrough.

Jovic scored 25 times in 54 games in the Bundesliga, including a five-goal haul against Fortuna Dusseldorf, becoming the youngest player to achieve the feat at age 20.

Frankfurt activated their option to make the transfer permanent but it was simply to faciliate a move to Real, who paid €60m to sign Jovic on a six-year deal.

However, Jovic netted just twice in 27 games during his first campaign with Real and also failed to impress back on loan at Frankfurt, scoring four goals in 18 appearances.

Jovic was handed one final opportunity in Madrid during he 2021-22 season but he could only score once in 15 La Liga games, prompting Real to cut their losses and allow him to leave on a free to Fiorentina this summer.

But with the Italian side now also considering ending their relationship with Jovic, he may now find himself as one of football's biggest flops, representing a dramatic fall from grace since being named in Bundesliga's team of the season just three years ago.