With Stevan Jovetic’s move to Inter Milan looking certain, his brief two -year spell at Manchester City is one which has been overshadowed by injury and poor form.
When Manuel Pellegrini was confirmed as the Manchester City manager on 14th June 2013, it was clear from the signings he made that Summer that he wanted to leave his mark on the team. One player which generated a lot of excitement was Stefan Jovetic. The Montenegrin striker secured a £22 million move from Serie A Club Fiorentina in July 2013 and generated a lot of excitement amongst the fans and the media. This excitement was due to his enthusiasm when playing for the Italian team along with the appearances he had made for Montenegro against England which had proven tough for the Three Lions.
The two years which Jovetic has spent at the club was one which many City fans consider a failure. Jovetic was a player who was always looking to be one of the next European footballing superstars. However, his inconsistency and injury record was something which left him one step below the ‘superstar’ status. When he joined Fiorentina in 2008, his first two seasons were signs that his ability was slowly developing, scoring two goals in the 2008-09 season and eleven in the 2009-10 season. However, the first signs of his injury prone self which we have got used to seems to have started on a pre-season tour in 2010 where Jovetic damaged his cruciate ligament which resulted in him missing the whole of the 2010-11 season. Following this injury, Jovetic returned to fine form scoring fourteen goals during the 2011-12 season and another thirteen in the 2012-13 season. This again led to interest from many clubs across Europe.
Manchester City were eventually the club who would successfully get his signature. This made the strike-force of Edin Dzeko, Sergio Aguero and Stefan Jovetic a massive threat; however, throughout the whole of Jovetic’s stay, we never got to see what this potential strike-force could have been. Jovetic’s time at City mostly consisted of injuries, whenever he seemed to be getting an impressive piece of form together he would be hit with an injury which would leave him out of the team for monthly spells. When Jovetic actually played, he only impressed against the smaller teams in the English game. One example of this being against Wigan Athletic in the 2013-14 League Cup-winning campaign where he scored two goals. However, when he came up against the likes of Chelsea for example, Jovetic never impressed and fell by the wayside when it came to being a regular in the first team squad. One thing that did stand out was his enthusiasm when playing. Jovetic would be darting around the pitch, chasing after the ball like a rabid dog. Unfortunately this led to him forgetting what his role in the team was, this being to score goals! Jovetic would often drop deep into midfield or occasionally the back four whilst attempting to get the ball leading to criticism.
Jovetic’s time at City has been something which he should quickly forget. Despite winning the Premier League and League Cup in 2014, he did not make the impact City fans were hoping for. Despite his enthusiasm, he was simply unable to make an impact against the big teams in both the Premier League and Champions League. Combined with frequent injuries, Jovetic’s time at City has now come to an end.
As City fans we wish him all the best on his time at Inter Milan as he will be managed by a Manchester City legend, Roberto Mancini.
