18 Feb 2013

'He's suffering' - Exciting £25m star who rejected Rafa 'could leave' in May. Pursue...?

In November 2012, Rafa Benitez admitted that he tried to sign Fiorentina's Stevan Jovetic in the summer of 2009, claiming the striker would've helped the Reds 'build on the previous year's title challenge'. Alas, the transfer didn't come off, and since then, the Reds have been linked with the Serb several times, and according to Serbia coach Sinisa Mihajlovic, the 23-year old is likely to leave Serie A this summer.

Over the last few years, Jovetic has been constantly linked with a move to Anfield. Indeed, In 2012, Italian Newspaper Corriere dello Sport reported that Liverpool put in a €22m bid for Jovetic.

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport last night, Mihajlovic - who managed Jovetic for a year between 2010 and 2011 - warned that the striker could move on this summer if 'things don't change' at the Fiorentina. He argued:

"I consider Jovetic to be one of the best players in Serie A, but right now he is not playing at his level. I am no longer in Florence, so I cannot say for sure what the problem is, but it’s evident he is suffering because of something and if things don’t change I think he could leave at the end of the season"

Viola general manager Sandro Mencucci has already confirmed that Jovetic will leave at the end of this season. He told reporters recently:

"He [Jovetic] will leave, but the club has worked out a deal: Stay another year so we can plan for your departure at the end of the season"

In an interview in September 2012, Fiorentina Technical Director Eduardo Macia - who worked as Chief Scout at Liverpool between 2006 and 2010 - conceded that keeping 20m-rated Jovetic at Fiorentina would be 'very difficult', and hailed the striker's massive influence on the club:

"Jovetic? He is a fantastic player, who eventually will play for another club. To us his contribution on the field is similar to that of Steven Gerrard at Liverpool. This summer we decided that Jovetic was not to be put on the market and he understood this perfectly, despite the offer of Juventus."

Given the fact he worked at Liverpool, Macia will have seen Gerrard's huge impact on the team first-hand, and if Jovetic is having a similar influence on his club, then Fiorentina clearly have a very special player on their hands.

With Liverpool's current position, signing a player like Jovetic may seem like a pipe dream, but you never know what might happen. The Reds were not in the Champions League when Luis Suarez signed for the club, which proves that top class players will come to Anfield irrespective of European status.

Liverpool look at their most effective with Suarez playing off a dedicated frontman, but what happens if Sturridge is injured/out of form etc? The West Brom and Zenit games showed how ineffective the team can be without that structure in place, so the Reds arguably need another striker to provide depth and competition.

If Jovetic does become available, Liverpool should, at the very least, put in a bid. After all, nothing ventured, nothing gained.





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14 comments:

  1. why would he not join fiorentina,s hardly a champions league giant to say the least

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  2. I've seen Jovetic play a few times and I really can't see what all the fuss is about. He seems a bit one paced to me and not very strong, add to that he goes down very easily. Maybe i need to see him play more before making a final judgement but at the price that will be demanded by his club I'm sure we could find a better player.

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  3. I have to agree with you here Zulu. Not impressed. 

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  4. They are still in the race for a CL place and a lot closer to a CL place than we are, in terms of points behind 4th spot. If they make it, I think he would be better off staying one last season there than coming here. Sooner or later, would be good to see him test himself at a bigger club. Good talent. 

    Scored 2 against Inter in the last game, in the highlights I saw. Jovetic played as the main striker but best position is probably behind one.  Aquilani set up one. A nice backheel assist it was too. They had another one of players playing too, Sissoko came off the bench. 

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  5. The best replacement for suarez if he leaves.. imo

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  6. I'd have him in a heartbeat.... he's a class footballer and you can never have enough of those in your team... 10m and borini as we have good relations with them and id be very happy

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  7. His agent is Fali Ramadani. Thanks, but no thanks.

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  8. 2 reasons

    1. 25million

    2 Neither are we!

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  9. Fiorentina will not make the CL, Serie A only has two automatic qualification slots, one of which will be easilt taken by Juve, and the other Inter/Napoli, that leaves the last playoff spot for Roma/Fiorentina/Lazio.

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  10. Good spot. Forgot Serie A had one place taken away. It is still of course possible for Viola to make CL. They aren't that far behind. Although your spot of one less CL place drastically changes Viola's hopes of CL, even though they are still in the race. I think the top 2 places look likely to be  Juve and Napoli, as the rest are 7 points behind Napoli. Milan in 3rd but only 2 points ahead of Viola and Lazio have a game in hand so that gap between 3rd and Viola could expand to 5 points. Basically looks like it will be Milan, Viola, Inter and Lazio in a fight for the 3rd spot. Roma are behind Catania and are 5 points behind Viola, not a impossible gap but still won't be easy as I don't rate Roma's chances as they are a bit wishy-washy this season. We are 9 points behind 4th place Spurs and we sit in 7th place, whereas Viola are 2 points behind 3rd place Milan. Rate their chances more than our's.

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  11. Spend £25m on a striker, unlikely why? Why we have attacking players in Suarez, Sturridge, Borini, Coatinho, Downing, Sterling and Suso all competing for 3 positions. So why would Liverp

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  12. not entirely convinced. i remember when we had a serbian striker, he was class, wasn't he!?!?

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  13. He's from Montenegro lol

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  14. Borini and 15 million pounds its a deal, Jovetic run amok in a European match about 4 years  years ago against Liverpool scoring both goals and i must say i have been impressed ever since.
    The only ifs and buts maybe is he the same player having suffered a season long injury at one stage but i would still take a punt.
    He is still young 23 and fits FSG policy but also has plenty of experience adds that bit of extra class up front.

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