Luka Jovic - Madrid new signing is a wanted man & where he began?

MOVE over Homer Simpson.

When Real Madrid new signing Luka Jovic was a promising teen at Red Star Belgrade, it was his sweet tooth that got him in bother with his coaches.

HE'S A WANTED MAN

The 21-year-old striker has been in sensational form for Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga and Europa League.

And Real Madrid have won the race to sign him, snapping him up for £58m on a six-year deal.

But a diet of doughnuts, chocolate and crisps almost halted the Serbs' career before it had even begun.

Charlton forward Josh Parker, 28, played with Jovic at the time.

On his bed were packs and packs and packs of sweets. He would go through three or four packets of Haribo

Parker told SunSport: “Luka was very mischievous.

"He did stuff he probably shouldn't have been doing - not like going out or things like that - but he loved sweets.

“I remember when we were on preseason and he was sharing a room with Mihailo Ristic, who is now at Montpellier.

"On his bed were packs and packs and packs of sweets.

“He would go through three or four packets of Haribo.

"I remember reading that Paul Scholes was the same, he apparently ate a lot of sweets but was still so good. Luka was the same."

Jovic's choice of food had then-manager Slavisa Stojanovic pulling his hair out and relying on his senior players to confiscate his star prodigy's snacks.

When the team stayed at Red Star's accommodation building, it was up to their squad members to wrangle a key from reception for Jovic's room and remove all the treats he hid inside.

"He really liked that sort of stuff at that time," Stojanovic told Bleacher Report.

"The players would take it (snacks) out of his room and he wouldn't be happy."

Another gripe Stojanovic had with the talented youngster was his work rate and insistence that his hair had to look perfect on the playing field.

"He was a very talented player. He had a nose for goal, a natural gift," Stojanovic recalled.

"But I got angry with him sometimes because he looked so lazy on the training field.

"At that time, he had slightly longer hair and in some training sessions he was more focused on his hairstyle than anything else."

WHERE IT BEGAN

Jovic was born in Bijeljina and grew up in the rural village of Batar.

Dad Milan was his mentor, an amateur footballer who encouraged his son to shoot with both feet, which explains why he's equally proficient on his left as he is his right.

As a boy, Jovic was football-mad. Playing in the streets, he pretended to be his heroes Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Radamel Falcao.

He once changed his Facebook profile page and included their names after his in brackets.

At the age of seven, Jovic played in the Belgrade-based Mini Maxi, a development league for kids aged between four and 12.

His goalscoring prowess soon caught the attention of Red Star's famed scout, Tomislav Milićević - the man who for 32-years supplied the club with the best young players in the country.

Jovic was invited to join Red Star's youth set-up, which he had no qualms about being an avid fan of Crveno-beli, quickly accepting Milićević's offer.

He grew up in a very poor home. When I saw that, I was even more convinced that he would make it."

Hungry for success, and living in poverty, the boy made the sacrifices to achieve his dream by travelling 90 miles in a day to get to training.

"It wasn't easy for him," Milicevic recalled.

"In the beginning, he travelled every day by bus from Bijeljina to Belgrade and back. He made sacrifices and his family supported him.

"He grew up in a very poor home. When I saw that, I was even more convinced that he would make it."

JOVIC'S DREAM DEBUT

In 2014, aged just 16 years, five months and five days, Jovic came on as a sub for his debut for Red Star and made history.

Three days before his appearance the club had won the Serbian First League, and as he made his bow that day his side were trailing 3-2 away at Vojvodina.

Jovic was sent on to salvage things with 17 minutes left on the clock. Three minutes later, a lofted pass over the defence saw Jovic race through on goal before side-footing the ball home.

In an instant a hero was born - and he became the club's youngest ever goalscorer, beating a record held originally by Dejan Stankovic - another Milicevic find.

Parker knew from his first training session with “street footballer” Jovic that the youngster was destined to be one of the world's best strikers.

The Antigua captain explained: “He was so intelligent on the pitch. Off the pitch he's dopey, hasn't got a clue about anything, all he knows is football.

“But he's always in the right place, and it's not by mistake.

“I remember when I first went to Red Star everyone was talking about Luka Jovic

“But after just one training session with him, I realised how gifted he was.

“Both feet finishing was the same, his first touch was immaculate.”

Aged 16 years, five months and five days, Jovic became Red Star's youngest ever scorer

By the 2015-16 season, Jovic was the club's first team striker and the country's great hope.

But as his profile grew, unneeded attention was only round the corner. A local racketeer threatened his family, asking for a large sum of cash.

The same man sickeningly said if his demands weren't met, he'd have it seen that Jovic's legs were broken.

Luckily, the villain was apprehended by the authorities and the threat was removed.

JOVIC LEFT SERBIA FOR FAME AND FORTUNE

Jovic knew his fortunes lay outside of his country, and due to Red Star's financial issues was sold to Benfica in February 2016, following in the footsteps of fellow Serbs Nemanja Matic, Lazar Markovic and Ljubomir Fejsa - also Red Star youth products.

And that's where his career stalled briefly. Unable to dislodge the Lisbon giants' front three of Kostas Mitroglou, Raul Jimenez and Jonas, he found himself playing reserve team football.

He appeared only twice in the first team, and would've featured more if he hadn't been caught in a nightclub the night before a game he was due to play in.

Eintracht Frankfurt saved Jovic from his Portuguese nightmare in June 2017, signing the Serb on a two-year loan deal with a reported £7 million option to buy.

Since then, Jovic's star has risen again - and he's become one of the most in-demand forwards in world football, banging in 21 goals in 38 games, including six in eight in the Europa League.

And he continues to break records. Last October he recorded 5 goals in a single game for Frankfurt in a 7-1 win over Fortuna Düsseldorf - the youngest ever to achieve that feat in the Bundesliga.