The Real Madrid forward Luka Jovic has suffered a foot injury while training at home and is unlikely to be fit for the potential restart of the La Liga season in mid-June.
The Spanish club have confirmed that their medical team discovered a fracture in the Serbian striker’s heel bone during routine tests carried out prior to the resumption of individual training on Monday.
The as-yet unexplained injury is the latest setback for the 22-year-old, who will be out of action for up to seven weeks. Jovic joined Real from Eintracht Frankfurt last June for an initial €65m (£57.5m) but had scored just two goals all season before football was suspended across Europe in March.
Jovic was given permission by his club to return home to Serbia and self-isolate as Spain’s strict anti-coronavirus measures came into force. He was then reportedly caught breaking lockdown rules by going out in Belgrade, leading Serbia’s president, Aleksandar Vucic, to threaten him with arrest if he did so again.
“I am very sorry that some people did their job unprofessionally and did not give me the correct instructions on how to behave in self-isolation,” Jovic responded in an Instagram post in March. “I apologise to everyone if I have endangered them in some way.”
While Real Madrid players are set to resume individual training on Monday, a number of top-flight clubs including their title rivals Barcelona began the four-phase process on Friday. La Liga hopes to complete the current season behind closed doors this summer.
