Luka Jovic to join Fiorentina 'on free transfer' from Real Madrid
By Tom Gott
Luka Jovic will leave Real Madrid permanently this summer, with Fiorentina set to land the Serb on a free transfer.
The 24-year-old has endured a torrid three years in Real following his €65m move from Frankfurt, managing just three goals and five assists in 51 appearances, and he was expected to head out to Fiorentina on loan this summer.
However, numerous reports have now revealed that not only will Jovic's exit be permanent, but it will also be a free transfer.
Real will not demand any compensation for Jovic, but in exchange, Fiorentina have agreed to hand Los Blancos 50% of any future sale of the striker.
Jovic has also agreed to a lower wage in Florence, with Real set to pay a percentage of his salary for the next two seasons to help get a deal over the line.
Marca state that Real have also negotiated a buy-back clause as part of the agreement.
It's a shock ending to a disastrous spell in Madrid which saw Jovic fail to challenge Karim Benzema for regular minutes at the top of Real's attack.
Of his 51 appearances for the club, just 14 of those have come as a starter, while only 17 of his outings have lasted longer than 30 minutes.
With Jovic's future close to being finalised, Real must also make decisions on fellow backup forwards Mariano Diaz and Borja Mayoral, both of whom are keen to leave the club this summer in search of regular game time.
The departure of all three would leave Benzema as the only senior striker in the squad, with manager Carlo Ancelotti tipped to turn to the youth academy for cover for the Ballon d'Or candidate.