Real Madrid flop Luka Jovic’s miserable start at Fiorentina
Carlo Garganese
- 17 Sept 2022 17:30 BST
- 4 min read
Fiorentina striker Luka Jovic is enduring a miserable start to life in Serie A as he shows no signs of reversing the horrible form he displayed at Real Madrid.
Jovic was released by Madrid this summer after a disastrous spell at the club, joining Fiorentina on a free transfer.
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The striker signed a two-year deal with the Viola, during which Los Blancos will foot the bill for half his salary.
Given that he was signed by Madrid for €60 million from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019, it marked quite the fall from grace.
Jovic the Real Madrid flop
He had joined Madrid as they sought to replace Cristiano Ronaldo. He was coming off an exciting season with Frankfurt, during which he scored 27 goals in 48 matches, but he never came close to recapturing that form in Spain.
He struggled so badly after joining Madrid that he was loaned back to Frankfurt after 18 months in the hope that familiar surroundings might help him get back into scoring form. However, a return of four goals from 18 matches proved that his scoring duck would be hard to break.
Jovic returned to the Bernabeu in the summer of 2021 and would act as a backup to Karim Benzema in the centre-forward role. In 19 appearances in all competitions, he managed just a single goal, taking his total contribution for Real Madrid to three goals in 51 matches.
It was hoped that Jovic, still only 24, would relaunch his career in Florence.
The prospects looked even better given that he would be playing under Vincenzo Italiano, one of the most exciting young coaches of his generation.
Italiano is renowned for his modern and ultra-attacking style of play, and someone who is an expert at developing attacking players. Last season he helped turn Dusan Vlahovic into one of the best young strikers in Europe prior to his €80m mid-season move to Juventus.
Could Italian do the same with Jovic?
So far, he certainly hasn’t.
How has Jovic performed at Fiorentina?
In 10 games in all competitions, Jovic has scored just one goal. That came on the opening day of the season in a 3-2 win over Cremonese.
Since then, Jovic has struggled badly. He missed a penalty in the 1-1 draw against Juventus, costing his side two points.
#ForzaViola 💜 pic.twitter.com/VKXqd11cno
— Luka Jović (@LukaJovic7i) September 17, 2022
But his overall play has been almost non-existent at times. He has contributed very little to the team play and often been anonymous.
Jovic has acknowledged that he has struggled so far at Fiorentina, but promises he will get better.
What did Jovic say?
“The expectation is high when a Real Madrid player arrives at Fiorentina,” Jovic told The Informer earlier this week.
“It’s normal for the fans to expect me to make a difference from the first moment, but I haven’t played for three years and that’s why it may take me a while.
“I was expecting a difficult season, and after the first games it seems clear to me that this is the case.
“I will need time to find my form. I am here to work and try to integrate as soon as possible, to try to fit in as soon as possible with the rest of the team.
“But I’m sure that everything will improve game by game. Expectations for me are high, but I haven’t played for three years.”
What did Italiano say?
Italiano himself insists that he will wait for Jovic to come good.
“Jovic is at Fiorentina to show his worth, we must wait for him and have trust. We hope he’ll soon show his qualities,” he said on Wednesday.
Jovic needs to start producing fast, though. Fiorentina are in a poor run of form and have gone eight games without a win. During that time they have scored only three goals, which is unheard of for an Italiano team.
Jovic was signed to score Fiorentina the goals and so far he is floundering.
