Real Madrid striker the answer to Erling Haaland question
Borussia Dortmund will almost certainly need to go shopping for a striker this summer to replace the Norwegian
The future of Erling Haaland is likely to dominate the summer transfer market as Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich chase the next star of world football.
Haaland is currently nursing a muscle injury and has been unable to play for Borussia Dortmund since mid-January but that has not quelled the top clubs’ appetite to sign the Norwegian.
The demand for the Norway striker means that he and agent Mino Raiola hold the upper hand in negotiations, to the extent that Barcelona have reportedly been encouraged to sign another of Raiola’s clients in Ajax full-back Noussair Mazraoui to improve their chances of signing Haaland.
With Haaland almost certainly heading for the Westfalenstadion’s exit door, Dortmund are understandably already thinking about his replacement.
And according to Fichajes.net, they are casting their eyes on Real Madrid’s Serbian forward Luka Jovic.
Jovic has gone off the radar in the last couple of years after a terribly disappointing stay in the Spanish capital following a 60-million euro move from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019.
The striker has only started six La Liga games in nearly three years in Spain, although he did return to Eintracht on loan for the latter half of last season. He has scored three times in the league, which isn’t the worst return given how little he has played, but still works out at around 20 million euros per goal.
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Things have also gone badly for him off the pitch. He got in trouble back in Serbia for defying the national lockdown and then broke his toe while training at home, missing Real's run-in to the 2019/20 La Liga title.
However, his tough stay in Spain has not put Dortmund off, as they know Jovic is at home in the Bundesliga.
It was there that he burst onto the scene with 17 Bundesliga goals in the 2018/19 campaign plus 10 strikes in the Europa League to take his side to the semi-finals.
He also proved he had not lost his scoring touch in Germany when he returned on loan, scoring four goals in eight starts.
Richard Martin is an experienced football writer, editor and social media producer. Before returning to London, he spent 10 years in Spain as a football correspondent and has attended over 600 games across 16 countries, his favourite being Argentina. He has also worked for Reuters, The Telegraph, The Daily Mail, The Times and AS.