THE
UNKNOWN
GALACTICO
Serb striker was a €60m summer signing by Madrid
WORDS: Nick Bidwelleal Madrid’s new €60million striker is
one of the most coveted young players
in Europe and used to being the centre
of attention. Powerful and potent, the
21-year-old Serb has been in demand
for as long as he can remember.
With 27 goals in all competitions for
Eintracht Frankfurt last season, Jovic was
regarded as a football prodigy while still
at infant school, swiftly becoming aware
that the doors of advancement, which
were closed to the majority of his peers,
were unbolted and unguarded for him.
An ethnic Serb born and brought
up in the Bosnian village of Batar, he
was only seven when he received his
first footballing job offer, invited to join
Teretana Tas, a team in the Belgrade-
based “Mini-Maksi”, a development league
for kids in the Serb capital. This would be
a first taste of football meets business
and an enlightening glimpse of the
money to be made with a ball at his feet.
“We were offered a lot of financial
help,” recalled his father, Milan, in an
interview with the Serb magazine
Mozzart Sport. “Luka scored a hat-trickR
Luka Jovic PLAYER
BIOGRAPHY