Arsenal join race for Bundesliga goal-machine Luka Jovic

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Bengaluru, March 7: Arsenal have contacted Benfica about signing striker Luka Jovic as per reports in England.

The 21-year-old hotshot has excelled on loan with German side Eintracht Frankfurt this season, catching the eye of Real Madrid and Chelsea plus a host of other big clubs around Europe.

His 21 goals in 32 matches, which makes him joint-level with Bayern Munich’s Robert Lewandowski in the Bundesliga scoring stakes, has earned him the nickname of “Serbian Falcao”.

Now Marca claim his exploits have caught the eye of Unai Emery, who wants to add the youngster to his attacking ranks this summer.

The Gunners boss is believed to want to bring in another frontman to rival Alex Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. And with Danny Welbeck set to leave on a free transfer once his contract expires, the Spanish publication claim Arsenal have already enquired about Jovic's services.

However, the question is whether the North London side can afford to sign him. Emery is only set to receive a transfer budget of just £40m to bring in new recruits while Jovic will reportedly cost at least £52m.

Frankfurt have the option to sign the Serbia international permanently included as part of their loan arrangement and they will certainly trigger that clause before selling him on for the huge sum.

With the likes of Welbeck and ​Aaron Ramsey leaving the club for free, there will be no immediate influx of funds raised through sales, which could leave Arsenal trailing behind the competition in the race for Jovic.

If Arsenal can push ahead with the move, then that fee would make Jovic the second most-expensive player in their history. Pierre Emerick Aubameyang still holds top spot after the Gunners forked out £56m to Borussia Dortmund for the Gabon star in January 2018.