Luka Jovic reportedly has no intention of joining Serie A giants AS Roma in the January transfer window despite his struggles at Real Madrid.
According to a report by Catalan outlet El Nacional, Luka Jovic is not interested in leaving Real Madrid, either on loan or permanently, in the January transfer window. Such a development has come as a huge blow to AS Roma. The Serie A giants had been hoping to sign the Serbian striker on loan this winter.
Luka Jovic joined Real Madrid in June 2019 amid a lot of hype surrounding him following a superb 2018/19 campaign with Eintracht Frankfurt. However, the move has been disastrous for the Serb, who has had to play second fiddle to Karim Benzema while failing to impress whatsoever in the rare opportunities given to him.
This season, the 23-year-old is at his lowest ebb as a Real Madrid, having notched up only 106 minutes of actions in eight appearances off the bench. So, Jovic’s situation at the Santiago Bernabeu appears to be untenable, which has alerted several clubs across Europe, including AS Roma.
The Serie A giants have been reported to be in the market for a striker heading into the January transfer window despite signing Tammy Abraham and Eldor Shomurodov in the summer. However, Shomurodov has struggled to make an impression on Jose Mourinho, while Real Madrid loanee Borja Mayoral is out of favour with the AS Roma boss.
Therefore, the former Real Madrid manager is eager to bring in a striker this winter, with Jovic emerging as a target in recent weeks. But, AS Roma have been dealt a massive blow in pursuit of the Real Madrid outcast, who does not wish to depart the Santiago Bernabeu in January.
Despite interest from several clubs, Jovic prefers retaining his current status of being a backup striker at Real Madrid. Such a stance has not just hurt AS Roma. After all, the 23-year-old has also been linked with several other Serie A clubs, including Napoli, AC Milan and Inter Milan.
Jovic’s decision to stay put at Real Madrid is quite staggering, considering he is not at the peak of his powers yet and needs to play regularly to make sufficient progress in his career. In addition, with the FIFA World Cup set to be played in a year, he has to feature prominently at club level to stake a claim for a regular berth for Serbia. Nonetheless, it looks like a move to AS Roma is not on the cards for Jovic.