After selling their star man to Zinedine Zidane’s side earlier this summer, the Bundesliga outfit have opted to add a fellow Serbian to their ranks
Eintracht Frankfurt have signed Serbian forward Dejan Joveljic from Red Star Belgrade on a five-year deal after losing Luka Jovic to Real Madrid.
The 19-year-old striker has committed to the Bundesliga club, who finished seventh last season and reached the Europa League semi-final before losing to eventual winners Chelsea on penalties, until June 2024.
Serbia star Jovic joined LaLiga giants Madrid for a reported fee of €60 million (£53m/$67m) after taking the Bundesliga and Europe by storm in 2018-19.
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The 21-year-old scored 17 Bundesliga goals and added another 10 during Eintracht’s run to the Europa League semi-finals last season, leaving Joveljic with big boots to fill next season.
Speaking to the club’s official website, board member Fredi Bobic said: “Dejan is a very good centre forward who is versatile and also able to play as a wide attacker.
“Obviously he’s still young and still has things to learn, but we’re very optimistic that he’ll settle quickly here in Frankfurt.
We’ll hopefully have a lot of games in the coming season so I’m sure Dejan will get the chance to show what he can do.”
Eintracht made a significant profit on Jovic as they triggered a purchase option on his two-year loan deal from Benfica for a reported €6m in April, after the forward struggled for game time at the Portuguese giants following his arrival from Red Star in 2016.
The club have now opted turned to another Serbian frontman, luring 19-year-old Joveljic from Serbian champions Red Star.
Prior to his move to Belgrade, the youngster honed his craft with local outfit Sloga United and went on to sign his first professional contract with Red Star in March 2016 – aged just 16.
Joveljic – born in the same city as Jovic in Bijeljina – scored eight goals and tallied two assists in 17 matches for Red Star Belgrade last season as the club lifted their 30th Serbia league title.
He will also team up with Jovic during Serbia’s Under-21 European Championship campaign in Italy, with his side’s first clash coming against Austria U21 on Monday evening as they look to take the crown from 2017 champions Germany.