This article is part of Football FanCast’s Transfer Focus series, which provides opinion and analysis on recent transfer news…
Not satisfied with snatching Eden Hazard from Chelsea last summer, it seems Real Madrid are heading back to the Premier League to sign another London-based superstar in the coming months.
According to Diario Gol, Los Blancos are determined to sign Harry Kane from Tottenham Hotspur as successor to Karim Benzema.
But where would that leave young Serbian striker Luka Jovic who only moved to the Bernabeu in July?
What’s the word, then?
We’ve been hearing about Real Madrid’s supposed revolution all summer long.
The media, especially from the Spanish capital, have been going on about Zinedine Zidane not having the squad he needs (or wants) to be able to fully compete in every competition.
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Of course, Hazard was a major signing and with the number seven shirt on his back, the Belgian might be looked upon as Cristiano Ronaldo’s successor.
But the Portuguese forward left for Juventus more than 15 months ago, and there are a number of other big name players who will soon need replacing in an ageing Galactico squad.
Benzema is already 31 years old. Sooner, rather than later, someone will have to take over his mantle, and who better to do that than Kane?
Unfortunately, that could end Jovic’s Real Madrid career before it has even begun.
A worrying sign
Tottenham Hotspur are not really firing on all cylinders right now.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men are struggling for form and were recently beaten 7-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League. They have won just three games this season – all in the Premier League and all at White Hart Lane.
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Diario Gol states that the Galacticos believe €180m (£162m) would be enough to extract the English forward away from north London, especially if Spurs miss out on Champions League football next season.
That would be a deal-breaker for Kane and, if this were to happen, he is apparently prepared to leave his beloved Spurs.
But such a deal would also ask a huge question about Jovic’s position inside Real’s squad.
Why exactly was the young Serbian even bought if Kane is now on the agenda as well? After all, it is highly unlikely that Los Blancos were ready to splash the reported £53.2m sum just to add a bench-warmer to their squad.
Seeing how Jovic has only tallied 218 minutes so far, across all competitions in 2019/20, it would be unfair to compare him to a regular first-teamer like the English forward.
So let’s take a look at how they both performed last season in their respective domestic leagues.
Jovic scored 17 goals and assisted a further five, which is actually one assist more than Kane’s 17 goals and four assists in the Premier League. Interestingly enough, the young Serbian edges him out in some other categories as well.
While the Spurs man had a slightly higher tally of shots per game with 3.6, as opposed to the former Frankfurt ace’s three, Jovic had 1.4 dispossessions and 2.3 unsuccessful touches per game, compared to Kane’s 1.6 and 2.9 respectively.
By all means, when the Serbian is given a chance to perform, he can evidently do it to a really high level.
It seems, however, that he is bound to get even less game time if the signing of Kane goes through – which, we must remind ourselves, is nowhere near concrete by any means.
But if the original source is to be believed, Kane would be Benzema’s direct successor and, in that regard, is most likely to become their first-choice striker.
The young Serb is already struggling for continuity and if Tottenham do end up allowing their forward to head to the Bernabeu, it might just spell the end of Jovic’s Madrid career.