Wolves target January loan for Real Madrid's Luka Jovic

Wolverhampton Wanderers are interested in a January deal for Real Madrid's Luka Jovic, after whittling down candidates to cover for the injured Raul Jimenez.

The 29-year-old Mexican is set for a lengthy spell out of action after fracturing his skull in a clash of heads with Arsenal's David Luiz back in November.

According to the Telegraph, Jimenez will return to Molineux on Sunday as Wolves take on Tottenham - but only as a spectator.

Without Jimenez's goals, Wolves have won just once and scored three in four games.

Pedro Neto, Daniel Podence and Adama Traore have all been used in more central roles since Jimenez's injury, while 18-year-old Fabio Silva was brought in at great expense over the summer. The teenage Portuguese starlet has, so far, scored just once in over 300 minutes of Premier League actions.

As such, Wolves are expected to go to market in January in search of a new out-and-out striker - a piece of business arguably long overdue considering the burden placed on Jimenez before his injury.

The Athletic's Tim Spiers writers that near the top of Wolves' shortlist of options is Real Madrid outcast Luka Jovic, who joined Los Blancos in 2019 as one of Europe's hottest prospects but has flopped somewhat spectacularly in the year and a half since his £55m move from Benfica.

The 23-year-old Serb - who netted 27 in 48 on loan at Frankfurt before moving to Spain - has scored just twice for Real Madrid in 32 appearances.

Jovic has appeared in a total of just five games for Zinedine Zidane's side so far in 2020/21, while off the field problems - including earning a fine for breaching lockdown rules in Serbia - have turned his signing into a nightmare.

Nevertheless, the Athletic's report admits that Wolves are interested in a loan deal for Jovic. However, the Premier League club are unwilling to offer anything like £55m for the striker as a future fee to make the deal permanent - a factor which, the article concedes, will make a winter deal tricky.

It is added that Divock Origi, often cited as a potential Wolves target, is not a 'priority'. This is despite reports that Liverpool are willing to listen to offers for the Belgian, who scored in 2019's Champions League final win.

Moussa Marega (Porto), Maxi Gomez (Valencia) and Hulk (Shanghai SIPG) have all also been linked to Molineux in recent weeks.