Luka-Jovic

It won’t be long before the name of Serbian forward Luka Jovi? is added to the long list of Serbian footballers plying their trade across Europe.

The number of Serbian players in top leagues has been steadily increasing over the past few years. The latest report from CIES Football Observatory ranked Serbia as the fourth exporting country in world football, with the total of 607 players competing in foreign leagues. Only France, Argentina and Brazil export more footballers at this moment. Some of the Serbian names have been catching a great deal of attention in the top-notch competitions, such as the Premier League. With Tottenham and Arsenal leading the race for the talented Red Star striker, Luka Jovi? might end up being the latest addition to the Serbian colony in England, and Europe in general.

So, who is he and is he worth all the hype?

Talented 17-year-old plays for Red Star Belgrade or Crvena zvezda as it is called in Serbian. Luka Jovi? is their prized possession, but this jewel could have easily become a player of Partizan, Red Star’s fierce rivals. Having been spotted after a single game in a youth tournament, Jovi? was invited to train with Red Star. Partizan wanted to cut the chase by immediately offering the youngster a contract, but his heart was however set on Red Star and he would eventually become their player in 2005 when he was only eight years old.

His senior career began in 2014 when. At the age of 16 years, five months and five days, Luka Jovi? went out to become the club’s youngest goal scorer in (a competitive match) in history. He bagged one on 28th May in a derby game against Vojvodina after being brought on as the substitute in a game which gave Red Star the Serbian Super liga title.

Being touted to become the club’s shiniest star, Luka Jovi? was at first given all the attention in the world. Despite his young age, he was given a number 9 shirt which holds a symbolic meaning to every striker on the globe. He responded with six goals in 22 games of his maiden season thus announcing himself to the world. His technical abilities are impressive. Despite his young age, Luka Jovi? is a strong player. Jovi? is a striker who works for the team, and his work rate in the build-up in the final third and around the penalty area make him a complete forward. His off the ball movement will never lead you to believe that we are talking about a fairly inexperienced 17-year-old boy. His finishing needs polishing, but this is also the point when his inexperience kicks in.

Red Star General manager Zvezdan Terzi? was the first one to publicly compare Luka Jovi? to Radamel Falcao. Monako striker is also Jovi?’s favourite player, the one this youngster looks up to. In all the fairness, footballing world has seen a fair share of player comparisons over the years, but in the case of Serbian starlet the similarities with the Colombian striker have recently been uncanny.

Couple of months after his senior debut, Luka Jovi? has become the subject of some controversial talks regarding his contract, much to the similarity of the Colombian striker. Red Star have declared their intention to hold on to the striker and make him a key player in the years to come, contrary to the usual dealings of the Serbian clubs which sell their young assets at the first chance of a hefty fee. Belgrade club even rejected the £2 million offer from Atletico Madrid. Rejecting a solid bid from Spanish side in a difficult financial situation raised a couple of eyebrows, but deeper analysis of the rejection provide an answer. Namely, part of Jovi?’s contract (allegedly 70% of it) was last year sold to agent Fali Ramadani in a reported £1 million deal. It has become a common practice in Serbian football, but with FIFA banning the third-party ownership this year, all the dealings will have to be ended. With this in mind, Red Star would not have made any significant earnings from the sale, and it may have been a major part of their decision to reject Atletico Madrid.

With the managerial shift during summer, Luka Jovi?’s fortunes have also turned. Young striker could have been a part of Serbia’s Under20 triumph in New Zealand and he would have been crowned World Champion, but he missed the World Cup due to his knee injury, again much to the similarity of his Colombian counterpart. At the same time, there have been some accusations that his club pressured him to skip the competition, accusations that have been additionally increased when he was seen at his club’s pre-season training preparing for Europa League qualifiers. New coach Miodrag Božovi? wanted to assess his team in the summer that proved to be crucial for Luka Jovi?’s current situation.

It is simple, despite the big announcements – the boy is not playing. There have been speculations about the club being unwilling to invest in a striker that is sure to change clubs in January. New manager is relying on the more experienced players explaining that his first goal of the season is not to promote young players but to win the title and lead his team to Champions League. Sitting on the bench for most of the time in the new season, Luka Jovi? was given half an hour on the pitch away in Subotica, in the last round of Serbian Super liga before the international break, which was enough for him to score a winner in 81 minute of a thrilling 3:2 encounter against Spartak. The boy is quiet, refusing to comment on his manager’s choices, unlike his father who publicly criticized Red Star for not giving his son more playing time.

Stuck between the financial interests of his club and agent(s), Luka Jovi? could go from shining star to shooting star at the very beginning of his career. Another jewel on the crossroads, with some important decisions ahead of him.

About the author – Miloš Markovic

Sports journalist from Serbia, Editor in Cheif at Sportske.net and contributor to FutbolgradLive. Worked with Inforstrada and FIFA covering Serbia’s international games during the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

twitter: @milosemarkovicu

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Lee-Price-July

The term ‘World XI’ and Watford FC might appear to be as dubious a partnership as Roy Evans and Gerard Houllier, but the newly promoted Premier League outfit are notorious for their global range of players.

Loading up their squad list at the start of Soccer Manager 2016 reveals an astonishing TWENTY THREE different nationalities.

There are more tongues in the dressing room than a youth disco.

Which prompts the obvious challenge – give the Watford squad a homegrown overhaul, while avoiding relegation.

Without wanting to sound like a questionable UKIP campaign, my mission is to transform the Hornets’s line-up to contain players solely from English, Scottish, Irish, Welsh or Northern Irish backgrounds.

It’s something approaching mission impossible – I’m no Tom Cruise, but I am similarly diminutive, which should qualify me for a starring role.

This is my diary as I play through the challenge.

 

JULY

I’ve told the Pozzo family of my masterplan and, frankly, they seem a little baffled – ‘we won’t get relegated, right?’ is their constant refrain.

Beneath the table, I’m sure I see owner Gino scrolling through his phone for Quique Sanchez Flores’s number, to see if it’s not too late for an about-turn.

But, be it through enthusiasm or boring them into submission, I survive the inaugural meeting, which brings the reward of a £10 million transfer budget.

“Just keep us up,” he repeats as I close the boardroom door.

Easier said than done, especially as just four of the current first team squad meet my selection criteria – English duo Ben Watson and captain Troy Deeney, Scot Ikechi Anya, plus Northern Irish defender Craig Cathcart.

Clearly keen to make a good first impression, I immediately transfer list everyone else, while promoting forgotten man Lloyd Dyer (83), Irish defender Tommie Hoban (82), and back up keeper Rene Gilmartin (77) from the reserves.

Lloyd Doyley protests that he’s London-born, and been at Watford his entire career, but this is no time for sentiment – the Jamaican international is made available for transfer, too.

He’s got it easy. Loan trio Alessandro Diamanti, Victor Ibarbo and Nathan Ake have a season of reserve team football to look forward to.

It leaves my first team squad extremely thin on the ground, but at least the first training session can be intensive and personalised – though the three-on-three mini-game we finish with borders on the shambolic.

Clearly, I need reinforcements – and head straight to my office.

There, I look up the latest list of free agents – which makes my squad look high class – and players made available for transfer.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s a paucity of superstars available – with enquiries made for anyone rated 85 or above, a lower benchmark than I’d intended.

Approximately twenty bids are tabled, although not with any particular cohesion – at least seven of them are for centre backs.

And, while Ashley Cole is ruled out for being too old, and Seamus Coleman for being too extravagantly priced, offers are made for Steven Gerrard and John Stones.

Cut-price deals are completed for transfer listed duo James McArthur and Callum McManaman (both 85), who go straight into the starting line up for my first match in charge – a friendly with MK Dons.

Even with filling my squad with youth team players, I can’t select an entirely ‘homegrown’ squad – with Allan Nyom starting at right back, and four outsiders on the bench.

I select a 4-2-3-1 formation, though, with three out-and-out wingers, this means playing someone out of position, with Anya given the number ten role.

McManaman marks his debut with the only goal of the game, and Hoban is a surprise man of the match, but we’re well outplayed.

Phil Jagielka arrives to give my squad its first 90-rated player, while Neil Taylor (87) and Adam Matthews (86) are also captured. With only three of the foreign legion dispatched, though, generating just £3 million in sales, I’m out of cash.

I’m in a ‘sell before you can buy’ scenario, despite more than £60 million’s worth of players sitting in the reserves.

But the squad is down to just two non-HG players for a narrow win over League Two side Torquay, with McManaman taking his tally to two in two.

The sale of Nyom (88), to Fleetwood Town incredibly, raises £4 million, which I vow to spend on a goalkeeper, but seemingly none are available.

I’m forced to resort to Paul Robinson (82), aged 35, on a free transfer, though I reassure myself that he’s to be second choice once I’ve cleared out the deadwood.

Steven Davis (88) arrives from Southampton to mean that, by the end of July, I finally have a matchday squad that is entirely homegrown.

As July comes to an end, with just a week until the Premier League season kicks off, Watford still have 15 players remaining on the transfer list.

And shifting them will be key to my mission having any remote chance of success.

See what further signing s I make, and how Watford take to life in the Premier League shorn of their stars, in the next installment, August.

 

About the author – Lee Price

Lee Price is a journalist and author with a passion for football, and crucially, virtual football management.

twitter: @Lee_Price

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