Arsenal may struggle to sign Jovic – is he even worth the risk?
Arsenal reportedly face competition for the potential transfer of Real Madrid striker Luka Jovic.
According to Mundo Deportivo, AC Milan are the latest club to join the running for the Madrid misfit, who has majorly flopped in his first season at the Bernabeu.
This report is cited by the Sun, who claim Arsenal have also been eyeing up Jovic as a potential replacement for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who is heading towards the final year of his contract at the Emirates Stadium.
Still, it’s also hard to overlook quotes in that Sun piece from Dragoslav Stepanovic, a former manager and Jovic’s fellow countryman.
He sounds deeply concerned about Jovic’s character, saying it seems like the 22-year-old is doing all he can to destroy his own career.
“He is the only man who does 100 per cent to ruin his career,” he said.
“Jovic works against himself. He was lucky that Adi Hutter gave him a shot at Eintracht and then made the biggest transfer in Serbia’s history and went to Madrid. I can’t believe what the boy is doing to himself.
“I read the media in Serbia and I know what life he had, that as a child he slept in his car with his father to wait until morning to train.
“What a sacrifice he made, and then this. I don’t know, Luka obviously doesn’t think about himself.”
Arsenal should perhaps take note of these comments, as it sounds like they could go some way to explaining why it’s gone so wrong for Jovic in Spain.
While it’s tempting to think he could recover and show the kind of form he displayed at Eintracht Frankfurt, there is no guarantee of that and he sounds potentially like a character who could disrupt our squad and derail the fine job Mikel Arteta is doing at the club.
We’ve seen before at Arsenal how much things can go wrong if a player is not mentally right, and it just seems quite clear that there are justifiable concerns about Jovic, suggesting he’s not a gamble we should be taking right now.
Aubameyang is a top player and has been thoroughly professional despite his ongoing contract saga, so it’s vital we get it right when it comes to replacing him.