Real Madrid could reportedly include Luka Jovic in their offer to try and prise Neymar away from Paris Saint-Germain before the transfer deadline.
As noted by the Guardian, the Spanish giants signed the 21-year-old in a €65m deal earlier this summer, providing Zinedine Zidane with another top option up front.
SEE MORE: Contact made: Real Madrid offered chance to land €70m top-class signing before deadline
However, he stuck with Karim Benzema in the win over Celta Vigo at the weekend in their La Liga opener, with Jovic coming off the bench in the 3-1 victory.
Rather surprisingly though, highly-respected journalist and Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has now suggested that the Serbian forward could be included in Real Madrid’s offer for Neymar.
He claims that talk of a €100m plus James Rodriguez, Gareth Bale and Keylor Navas offer has been rebuffed by his sources in Madrid, and that instead the offer will likely consist of money, Navas, one other player and Jovic, as per his tweets below.
On Neymar. The offer mentioned by @lequipe is denied by sources from Madrid (€100m plus James, Bale and Navas). For starters Gareth Bale is not moving (Gareth is still upset by the treatment of club, but is willing to show his quality in Madrid) pic.twitter.com/q8XSOi58ys
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) August 22, 2019
The offer from Real Madrid, when it arrives, will include money, Keylor Navas, another player and Luka Jovic!!
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) August 22, 2019
It remains to be seen if Madrid are genuinely willing to give up Jovic already, as given the quality and potential that he possesses, they would surely have bought him with a vision of him being a long-term solution up front.
With that in mind, it’s easy to see why many scoffed at the touted offer suggested by Balague in the comments on his tweet, but then again, if Real Madrid are able to add Neymar to their squad, it could be argued that Jovic would seem like a natural sacrifice in that event.
The likes of James Rodriguez, Isco and others have been linked with exits all summer long but remain at the Bernabeu, and so perhaps Jovic would be an appealing counterpart from PSG’s perspective and it would in turn create space in the squad for Madrid to allow Neymar to play a fundamental role alongside the likes of Eden Hazard and Bale.
