Wolverhampton Wanderers are interested in a January deal for Real Madrid’s Luka Jovic, after slashing candidates to cover injured Raul Jimenez.
The 29-year-old Mexican is set to spend a long period out of action after breaking his skull in a clash with Arsenal’s David Luiz in November.
According to the Telegraph, Jimenez will return to Molineux on Sunday as Wolves take on Tottenham – but only as a spectator.
Without Jimenez’s goals, Wolves have won only once and have scored three in four games.
Pedro Neto, Daniel Podence and Adama Traore have all been used in more central roles since Jimenez’s injury, while 18-year-old Fabio Silva was recruited at great expense this summer. The Portuguese teenage starlet has so far scored only once in more than 300 minutes of Premier League action.
As such, Wolves are expected to hit the market in January in search of a clear new striker – a deal arguably long overdue given the burden placed on Jimenez before his injury.
Athletic Tim Spiers writers who top Wolves’ options list are Real Madrid outcast Luka Jovic, who joined Los Blancos in 2019 as one of Europe’s hottest prospects, but which has declined quite dramatically in the year and a half since his £ 55million transfer. from Benfica.
The 23-year-old Serb – who scored 27 of 48 goals on loan at Frankfurt before moving to Spain – has only scored twice for Real Madrid in 32 appearances.
Jovic has appeared in a total of just five games for Zinedine Zidane’s side so far in 2020/21, while off-pitch issues – including a fine for breaking lockdown rules in Serbia – have transformed his signature in a nightmare.
Nonetheless, Athletic’s report admits Wolves are interested in a loan deal for Jovic. However, the Premier League club are unwilling to offer anything like £ 55million to the striker as future fees to make the deal permanent – a factor which the article says will make a deal delicate winter.
– Wolves (@Wolves) December 10, 2020
It is added that Divock Origi, often cited as a potential Wolves target, is not a “priority”. This despite reports that Liverpool are ready to listen to offers from the Belgian, who scored in the Champions League final victory in 2019.
Moussa Marega (Porto), Maxi Gomez (Valencia) and Hulk (Shanghai SIPG) have also all been linked with Molineux in recent weeks.
