Luka Jovic was the king of Milano on Wednesday night as his brace fired AC Milan into the final of the Coppa Italia, downing rivals Inter.
Calciomercato.com have written a piece about the magical night Jovic had – perhaps the best of his career – which is headlined as follows: ‘Milan, Jovic is your best striker: the renewal depends on two factors, there is a deadline’.
In the most important match of the season so far, a brace against Inter crowned a complete performance. Not only did Jovic fight for every ball as if it were the last, but from a technical standpoint he did a lot right, holding things up well and of course showing off his finishing ability.
Bringing the goals
Raise your hand if, three months ago, you imagined commenting on a derby won by Milan thanks to a super star Luka. Yet, it is a fitting reward for a player who didn’t give up in the hardest moments, when no one in the club seemed to want to bet on him after having renewed his contract last summer.
Jovic was an afterthought until recently, playing less than 200 minutes in the league, restricted to fragments of games off the bench. Now, with two goals in the league and two in the Coppa Italia in 12 total appearances, Jovic has the best goal average among all Milan strikers: one per 107 minutes.
🇷🇸 Luka Jovic’s brace against Inter from the sidelines ⚽️⚽️pic.twitter.com/EPTcV9mYfY
— SempreMilan (@SempreMilanCom) April 24, 2025
Fans and insiders have been surprised by Jovic’s growth in this final part of the season, less so his teammates who have always placed great faith in him, as Mike Maignan said in his press conference after the derby.
“We all know how strong he is. He’s a great number 9, he’s very strong when we look for him between the lines and when we find him inside the penalty area. We’re not surprised by this performance, but we’re happy for him because he’s worked so hard for the team,” he said.
What the future holds
Sergio Conceicao was halfway between courageous and reckless on Jovic. He focused on a striker who had been sidelined since the start of the season without thinking too much about the €35m investment made by the club in January to give him Santiago Gimenez.
And he was right, across the board. Now the former Real Madrid man has returned to being an important player for the Rossoneri, offering performances that take you back in time when he made the difference at Eintracht Frankfurt, so much so that he was sold to Real Madrid for €60m.
Milan can exercise a one-year extension on his contract, but the final choice will be up to the new sporting director and the new coach. There is a bit of a rush though, because his deal expires in the second week of July. If this form continues, clubs will start calling.
for me i believe milan should retain jovic because i think he far better than gimminez. jovic is two leg strike but gimms is one leg. i sujest milan should sell gimms now his value is still fresh before he becomes a flop.
Why are u compering him to other strikers in the team he has doing well and everyone deserve a second chance in life so I think the club should think about him if he continues to do well
They should move on with Gimenez and Jović as our primary strikers as characteristically they are same type of forwards, the fox in the box like forwards.
About Gimenez, I said in January I am not fond of him arriving in the middle of the season, especially a messy one like this where you need everyone ready. He came from a different league, with different language and culture. It was obvious he was going to struggle.
We need a proper #6 (preferably two) to hold down the midfield and we need proper playmakers, players who will create and provide service to our tap in ki*lers.
Jovic and Gimenez should be confident but I will also say to include Abraham as well because then Milan can focus on other areas to strengthen such as midfield, defense including wingbacks and the wingers.
The three forwards we have now can get us to the top 4-5 that we need next season – the issues to solve are in midfield and defence.