Serbian forward Luka Jovic reacts during the UEFA Europa League semi-final between Chelsea and Eintracht Frankfurt at Stamford Bridge in London on May 9, 2019.BEN STANSALL/AFP/Getty Images
After a season without Cristiano Ronaldo and his goals, Real Madrid took a step toward filling that hole on Tuesday by signing Serbia forward Luka Jovic.
The 21-year-old Jovic, who scored 17 goals in 32 Bundesliga games for Eintracht Frankfurt last season, agreed to a six-year deal with Madrid – to be completed following a successful medical exam.
“A powerful forward with neat technique and an eye for goal, he is strong off both feet and his finishing is second to none,” Madrid said on its website.
Madrid-based sports daily Marca reported the club was paying 60 million euros ($67.5 million) with a bonus of 5 million euros ($5.6 million), with 30% of the transfer fee going to Benfica, Jovic’s former club.
Jovic moved to Benfica from Red Star Belgrade in January 2016 and joined Frankfurt on loan in 2017. He impressed mostly as a substitute under former coach Niko Kovac but excelled under successor Adi Hütter last season, prompting Frankfurt to take its option to make the loan permanent for a reported fee of about 10 million euros ($11.5 million).
Besides his 17 goals, five of which came in a 7-1 rout of Fortuna Duesseldorf in October, Jovic set up eight more and scored 10 goals in the Europa League – second only to Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud.
“From a sporting point of view, Luka Jovic is a huge loss for us,” Frankfurt chairman Fredi Bobic said. “But it was clear that every player has their price. It’s an important and good piece of transfer business for Eintracht Frankfurt.”
Jovic will compete with French forward Karim Benzema at Madrid, which also has forwards Gareth Bale, Lucas Vazquez, Mariano Diaz and Vinicius Junior.
The team struggled for goals last season following the departure of Ronaldo to Juventus.