Why Real Madrid have signed Jovic and what it means for Benzema

For some time now many have wondered when Real Madrid would make a move for a striker, with Karim Benzema occupying the role in the middle of a front three for the best part of a decade. 

Many have accused the Frenchman of being overshadowed and outclassed by those around him in that time, so it’s ironic that following one of his finest seasons in the famous shirt, Benzema’s starting spot may now come under threat. 

The 31-year-old struck 21 league goals last season, surpassing 20 for only the third time in his career in Spain, and in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo stepped up where many others failed in a bitterly disappointing season for Los Blancos. In Benzema’s final ten appearances of the season he scored ten goals and registered four assists, equating to a direct hand in 82.4 per cent of the team’s goals in that time. 

That reliance on a player who had previously played second if not third fiddle in the Real Madrid attack in recent years has sparked the La Liga giants into action in the transfer market already. 

With Eden Hazard widely expected to arrive at the Bernabeu this summer, it’s Tuesday’s acquisition of Luka Jovic that will really put pressure on Benzema’s starting spot. 

The Serbian has arrived from Frankfurt for a fee reported to be in the region of €70m having only finalised a transfer to the Bundesliga outfit for just over a tenth of that price earlier this summer. It’s Benfica that are the biggest losers of the deal then, though they will receive a 30 per cent sell on fee from the German club, with whom the striker has spent the past two seasons on loan. 

In that time Jovic has scored 25 Bundesliga goals in 54 appearances, though 20 of said outings came as a substitute. All in all he found the net every 127 minutes on average in Germany’s top tier, with all of said strikes coming from inside 18 yards. 

He is a player that comes to life in the opposition box, but while the location of his goals may be predictable the Serbian has the ability to improvise and find the net with either foot or his head. It is, indeed, the variety with which he scores that perhaps sets Jovic apart as the most promising young striker around. 

The former Frankfurt forward was one of five players to net a perfect hat-trick in Europe’s top five leagues in 2018/19, doing so on route to five goals against Fortuna Dusseldorf last October, but it was no fluke. Since arriving in the Bundesliga, Jovic has scored an equal number of goals in Germany’s top-flight with both his left and right foot (ten), along with a further five with his head. 

Since the start of the 2017/18 season he is, as a result, one of only seven players to reach double figures for goals with either foot, and of those players only Harry Kane (eight) and Cristiano Ronaldo (nine) have scored more headed goals. Among the players absent from said group are Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero, Luis Suarez, Mohamed Salah, Robert Lewandowski and one Karim Benzema. 

The latter hasn’t scored a single left footed goal in that time, but his aerial threat in the opposition box could still see the two new teammates paired alongside one another. 

Jovic did, after all, flourish when partnered with a Frenchman in Frankfurt, striking up a strong understanding with target man Sebastien Haller. In fact, without the 24-year-old to hold and link up play the youngster was nowhere near as effective, struggling in the league towards the end of the season in Haller’s absence through injury. 

Of the 17 league goals Jovic scored last season, 14 came in 15 appearances when named in the same starting line up as Haller, finding the net just three times in ten starts without him by comparison. At his age it would certainly be a lot of pressure to expect Jovic to lead the line on his own at a club with the expectations of Real Madrid - albeit with help from wide - so Benzema will still likely to be of real value to Zinedine Zidane. 

He arrived at the Bernabeu at a similar age and knows all about the demands of playing for a club like Real Madrid, so could yet be a key mentor for the man that may ultimately replace him. Benzema has been a real team player at the club for many years now - averaging eight assists per season in LaLiga - and provided he continues to do so, Jovic’s arrival doesn’t have to mean the experienced striker is fazed out just yet. The coach will no doubt hope that the added competition gets the best from both players.