By Oliver Trust
BERLIN, March 22 (Xinhua) -- Luka Jovic is smiling when confronted with some of his youthful misdeeds. He raises his eyebrows and is talking about his desire for sweets as an unpleasant chapter of his past. His Belgrade coaches used to turn his belongings upside down to find what he loved most but wasn't helpful to promote his football career.
Meanwhile, things have changed significantly after he has been in scintillating form this season. The 21-year-old Serb has turned into one of Europe's most wanted strikers.
He abandoned sweets, says he never ran as many miles as he does today and claims to have dedicated his life entirely to the needs of professional football.
His story though reminds of a fairy-tale after Jovic joined Eintracht Frankfurt on loan for 200,000 euros.
The forward not only developed to one of the Bundesliga's most successful strikers having scored 22 goals in 36 games including the internationals in the Euro League but made his way to the Serbian national team capped four times. When his side achieved a 1-1 draw against Germany, he scored the leading goal.
In October 2018, Jovic became the youngest player in the history of the German league to score five goals in one game when his side demolished newly promoted Fortuna Duesseldorf.
Before he couldn't achieve his breakthrough at Benfica Lisbon and was moved to the Portuguese side's second team, his career seemed to have come to an end before it had started.
What is next for Jovic?
The German club has a buying option worth up to seven million euros. The value of the striker has reportedly reached more than 50 million euro.
Latest reports speak of the FC Barcelona having offered 50 million euro. Jovic is supposed to succeed current Barcelona striker Luis Suarez, according to Spanish media.
Barcelona has been interested in the 21-year-old for some time now with managing director Ramon Planes and sports director Eric Abidal watching him in action against Internazionale Milan last week when he scored the only goal of the game as Eintracht went through to the last eight of the Europa League, where they face Benfica.
"We haven't received an offer yet despite the figures mentioned in media reports," Frankfurt's head of board Wolfgang Steubing commented, admitting the club is expecting the battle to start shortly. Rumors speak about Real Madrid, Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Liverpool as being interested.
Reports speak about Frankfurt expecting between 65 to 70 million, but still hopes to convince the admired youngster to stay for another year.
Serbian national coach Mladen Krstajic is convinced Jovic has the potential to join "one of Europe's big clubs" but said another year in Frankfurt could possibly be an option. The former Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 professional praised Jovic's "special feeling for goal situations" and his courage to "always wait for the smallest chance to score."
Krstajic said Jovic reminds him of Suarez. Both count on their intuition in the box and seem part of the rare fraction of naturally gifted strikers.
"I am pleased about my success and owe a lot to my teammates," Jovic said adding he doesn't think about leaving but just wants to continue to score goals for his home country and his club. That after all is going to taste as sweet as his memories of his early years in Belgrade.
