Milan: Jovic, and the flop numbers: each shot costs… 500 thousand euros

Dearest Jovic, now it’s your turn. There is the signature of Stefano Pioli, who will count on him for the 180 minutes of the championship without Giroud, and of the club, still waiting for Luka to become productive in front of goal. His technical contribution was decidedly modest: seven games, two of which as a starter, replaced at half-time in the last one. No goals, no assists, no appearances in the Champions League.

yield

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In the 223 minutes on the pitch the two shots towards the opponent’s goal, not even on target, are the closest thing to the danger created. The club does the math: Jovic has a gross salary of 2.6 million, 217 thousand euros per month: in the five months of the season (two as a starter in purple, almost three in Milan) he cost his clubs around a million. Based on the contribution offered, each of the two pitches was paid five hundred thousand euros. Minimum expense on the card (at zero cost from Fiorentina), but not maximum return. He has a double opportunity to start repaying the trust: Giroud’s disqualification frees up space in the area. Pioli must decide whether to relaunch Jovic, who has the characteristics of a pure center forward, or focus on Okafor, an atypical first striker. In the first case, Luka will be able to make amends against Fiorentina and Frosinone: against the Viola, the law of the former player’s goals also works in his favour. It’s not one of those cases where one wonders about a possible celebration. The answer is already there: yes, he will.

Uncertain future

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To get to goal he will have to participate more in the offensive action, break free in the area and finally hit with precision. The easiest tasks for an attacker, which Jovic has not yet managed to perform. High marks for his seasons at Eintracht Frankfurt and then much more negative judgments in his experience at Real Madrid, who bought him for more than sixty million. Only sufficient in the last year in Florence. Milan chose him after crossing a series of objectives off the list, Taremi above all. Jovic remained among the few available on the list: he arrived in Milan on September 1st, a few hours before the close of the summer transfer window. Could he be the first to leave at the winter reopening? It will depend on the performance. Even more so when his contract expires in June 2024. For Pioli, he remains a player who «if in shape» can be useful to the cause, or even something more: «he knows how to play football, he will be able to give us some satisfaction», he had hoped at the beginning of the season. His career has been up and down so far: the promising Bundesliga striker has not fulfilled his goals in La Liga. He hoped to relaunch himself with Fiorentina: six goals in the league, the only ones in Serie A so far.

new challenge

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Milan offered him San Siro to become a protagonist again: here he played as a starter against Udinese, his last home match, second consecutive home defeat. He played 90 minutes only at Genoa, with a substitution in injury time: here are the two shots considered. In recent days he has been training at Milanello (Serbia excluded him from the squad, last call in September). Two days ago, however, he was in Turin, a spectator of the ATP Finals, with Djokovic and Alcaraz on the court: Jovic had also visited his compatriot in the winner’s box of the tournament. They have been friends for a long time, Luka envies his champion skills. And if he starts scoring with Milan he will also make Nole, a Rossoneri fan, happy.