European football transfer insider Dean Jones spent some time talking about reported Wolverhampton Wanderers target Luka Jovic and his future ahead of the January transfer window during the most recent edition of the Ranks FC podcast.
This comes after The Athletic’s Wolves correspondent Tim Spiers recently revealed that the Old Gold have enquired about the possibility of bringing the Real Madrid attacker to Molineux on loan when the transfer window re-opens.
In that report from The Athletic, it’s explained that Jovic isn’t a key player for Zinedine Zidane’s side at present and it’s implied that this may mean he’ll be available in January.
However, on this podcast, Jones indicated that Wolves may be set to miss out on the £19.8m-rated Serb, as he shed some light on current Serie A leaders AC Milan’s pursuit of the 23-year-old.
He said: (30:28) “Milan started to check out the situation, basically, with representatives of Jovic, initial calls have been made and they’re just getting background on if he’s interested, what’s his condition right now, what are his aspirations for the short term and long term, what kind of money is he earning, how would he feel about moving countries at this stage, all the personal things you need to know if you’re going to pursue somebody and how likely it is that the deal could even come through if you could agree it with the club.
(31:09) “They’ve got a good relationship with Real Madrid, right? There’s Theo Hernandez, there’s Brahim Diaz, there’s no reason, really, to think that there should be any hold-up here.
“I think you’d probably be looking here at a loan for the rest of this season and then a view to a permanent deal. I think that suits everybody.”
Will Jovic join Wolves in January?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts on what Jones had to say about Milan’s pursuit of Jovic…
In The Athletic’s report revealing Wolves’ interest in Jovic, it was explained that one potential complication for Nuno Espirito Santo’s side in securing the Serb’s signature would be that Real Madrid would prefer to do a transfer that included a permanent deal, while Wolves would only want to take the striker on a straight loan.
So, you could certainly argue that the seven-time UEFA Champions League/European Cup winners’ potential offer of a loan with a view to a permanent deal, which Jones discussed, would be a more attractive offer, while the fact Milan are doing better in Serie A than Wolves are doing in the Premier League may also give the Italian side a boost over Wolves.
With their top Premier League goalscorer from last season, Raul Jimenez, out of action due to a fractured skull at present, you could certainly argue that the centre-forward position is a key area for Wolves to recruit in at present and so, perhaps Jones’ revelation that Milan may be ahead of the West Midlands club in the race for his signature could be seen as a big blow for the Old Gold, with it looking like Jovic is one of their top January targets for this position.