Real Madrid are reportedly working on a loan deal with Serie A side Fiorentina for striker Luka Jovic.
The 24-year-old arrived at the Bernabeu with plenty of promise from Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019, with Los Blancos forking out £56.7m to prise him away from the Deutsche Bank Park.
However, Jovic has failed to live up to his price tag in the Spanish capital and has only managed a paltry three goals and five assists in 51 appearances for Real Madrid in all tournaments.
Jovic was briefly loaned back to Frankfurt for the second half of the 2020-21 season - scoring four goals in the Bundesliga - and he returned to his bit-part role in Madrid last term.
With the prolific Karim Benzema leading the line, Jovic only made 19 appearances in all competitions, scoring one goal and providing three assists in 357 minutes of La Liga football.
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The Serbia international remains under contract at the Bernabeu for another three years, and he is widely expected to leave the club in the coming weeks, either on loan or permanently.
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Real and Fiorentina are in discussions over a temporary switch for Jovic, who is open to joining La Viola.
Romano adds that the striker's salary is the only issue left for the two clubs to sort out, as Fiorentina want the European champions to cover a portion of his wages while he plies his trade in Italy.
Jovic has won the Champions League, two La Liga titles and two Supercopa de Espana titles with Carlo Ancelotti's side so far, and he could be in line to replace compatriot Dusan Vlahovic at Fiorentina.
Vlahovic departed La Viola for Juventus in the January transfer window, but Fiorentina still managed to qualify for the Europa Conference League following the 22-year-old's exit.
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Real Madrid have been expected to bolster their frontline with the signing of a new striker this summer, but they have failed in their pursuits of two big-name targets.
Kylian Mbappe ultimately elected to sign a new deal with Paris Saint-Germain, while Erling Braut Haaland instead opted to sign for Manchester City from Borussia Dortmund.
However, Real president Florentino Perez recently claimed that Haaland would have only made the bench at the Bernabeu, telling El Chiringuito: "Mbappe deal didn't create any problem with Haaland deal, absolutely. We have Benzema, so it was impossible to have him with Karim.
"We can't sign Haaland to stay on the bench. Haaland is an amazing, fantastic player."
Benzema's deal with the 14-time European Cup winners is due to expire in 2023, but Los Blancos are supposedly confident about their chances of tying the 34-year-old down to an extension.
Ben Knapton
