Jovic made another 47 appearances – scoring 13 goals – before he was snapped up by Portuguese giants Benfica for a fee in the region of €7million in 2016.
But Jovic only played four senior games for Benfica, including a two-minute cameo against Bayern Munich in the 2015-16 Champions League quarter-finals, as he was then shipped to Eintracht Frankfurt on a two-year loan deal in 2017.
I was surprised he didn t play there because Portugal normally like these type of players, Ninkovic said. He is good on the ball, very good finisher and very quick. He looks very strong and maybe looks heavy, but he is very quick if you look at his goal against Inter [in the Europa League round of 16]. He is strong and quick. I was surprised that he didn t play there.
Jovic has not looked back since swapping Lisbon for Frankfurt, where the 21-year-old scored nine goals in his first season at the German club, winning the DFB-Pokal in the process.
This term, Jovic has netted 15 Bundesliga goals – a tally only bettered by Robert Lewandowski – and 22 in all competitions for Eintracht, making him one of the most coveted strikers in world football, as the likes of Barcelona, Chelsea, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Bayern Munich queue up.
I always remember during the 2010 World Cup. I spoke to Nemanja Vidic – probably the best defender of the past 20 years, Ninkovic added. He told me one thing, you have to be lucky. You have to pick the right team, players and staff around you. He said to me, look, I came to Manchester United from Spartak Moscow [in 2006]. I was lucky that I had Rio Ferdinand around me and Alex Ferguson. That s why I became one of the best defenders in Europe .
He said, maybe if I went to Stoke City or some other club in Spain, probably he wouldn t have been such a good player as he was . It s very true. You have to be lucky. Germany is a much stronger league than Portugal. He didn t play much there and now look at him. He was lucky – he found the right coach, club and players around him.
