The speculation surrounding Arsenal’s interest in Stevan Jovetic has been around since last January. Every transfer window has brought reports that Arsenal are in talks to sign the Fiorentina forward, with nothing coming of it.

But right now the talk seems to have hotted up, with reports from various reliable sources suggesting that Arsenal are negotiating with the Italian club for the Montenegrin international.

Time to get serious

With the possibility of signing Jovetic becoming just that, an actual possibility, I thought it might be time to take a serious look at him, and what he’d bring to Arsenal.

Stevan Jovetic has scored 39 goals in 123 appearances for Fiorentina - about a goal every four games. Not hugely impressive, but it’s worth noting a couple of things.

Firstly, he’s endured a long period on the sidelines with a ligament injury, something he is still wary of (not injury-prone, worry not) to this day.

Secondly, playing as a centre-forward is fairly new for him. He spent his formative years as a left-winger, before moving into a number 10 role, a position he now alternates with playing as a striker.

Sound familiar? You may remember a certain Dutch badger impersonator having a very similar career path. Jovetic himelf has compared himself to Robin Van Persie in a rather encouraging interview (from an Arsenal perspective):

“I’ve heard about Arsenal’s interest. It’s a big pleasure for me to be on the radar of such a big club. I am happy about that.

I’ve always had an affinity with Arsenal. It’s a major club with a big tradition, one of the biggest in Europe.

It’s not easy to replace Van Persie, who scored a lot of goals.

Arsenal have plenty of players who don’t score like Van Persie, but are also very good.”

Caution

With that said, Jovetic isn’t a 30-goal-a-season striker like Van Persie just yet. He may never be. What he does offer is something Arsenal have clearly missed this season-creativity and fluidity.

From watching Jovetic just for 20 minutes against England, it’s clear to see that despite starting as a lone striker, he moves all around the attacking third, almost like Lionel Messi, a ‘false nine’ if you will. His technical ability is exceptional, and he has the ability to create chances for himself as well as others. Much as I’m a fan of Olivier Giroud,  he lacks that little something out of nothing, which Jovetic definitely has.

It might take him a while to get used to English football (though the Italian Serie A can be rather hands-on), and one shouldn’t expect him to instantly replace our world-class forwards of before. But he certainly can and likely will, eventually.

How much?

According to most reports, Arsenal and Fiorentina are about £5 million apart in their valuation. Fiorentina would rather sell to England rather than deadly rivals Juventus, and Arsenal have been speaking to them and Jovetic’s agent since November. The last talks were in December/January, and have been described as ‘productive’. Essentially, if Arsenal pony up, they’ll get him, as long as Manchester City don’t get involved (which they may).

We’re definitely in for Jovetic, but as with all Arsenal transfers it will be a long, harrowing and quite possibly unsuccessful wait. But life is all about hope. I think.

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