Jovetic to play key role in title race? | OneFootball

Fit and flying for club and country, Stevan Jovetic could play a massive role for Monaco in the Ligue 1 Uber Eats title race.

The elegant Jovetic signed off before the international window with a goal in the 4-0 win at Saint-Etienne, having been selected to start ahead of captain Wissam Ben Yedder. The injury-plagued 31-year-old had already missed a penalty against Les Verts and later hit the woodwork again in a display that signalled the attacker's intent to Monaco boss Niko Kovac.

The strike at Saint-Etienne was Jovetic's first as a starter at club level this season, having scored three league goals off the bench. A starter only three times in Ligue 1 Uber Eats in 2020-2021, Montenegro's record scorer has started twice as often at international level this season and has been inspirational.

Watch: Jovetic's double for Montengro against Latvia

Montengro owe their perfect start in World Cup 2022 qualifying to their captain and inspiration. Jovetic scored both Montenegro goals in a 2-1 win in Latvia on March 24 and carried that form into the 4-1 home win over Gibraltar - scoring again - on March 27, setting his nation up for a massive qualifier at home to Norway in Podgorica on March 30.

Jovetic has seven goals for club and country in 2021 to accompany the four he managed for Montenegro last autumn and - free from injury problems - is showing his enduring class, as important to Monaco as at any time since his 11 million euro switch from Inter Milan in September 2017.

New deal?

Out of contract at the end of the season, could Jovetic's sparkling form earn him a new deal? Speaking at the start of March, Jovetic said: "I feel good at Monaco. I'm only focused on what goes on on the field and we'll see what happens. We have the objective of qualifying for Europe and my contract situation is secondary to that. I have a lot of experience and my head isn't on elsewhere. I'm focused on my football."

Kovac added: "We'll have to evaluate things on a global basis, see where the team is at, what we need, and see what is possible in financial terms given the special situation with the pandemic. We'll make that analysis in the last two or three weeks of the season."

No more "super sub"?

Will Jovetic now start more regularly at club level and shake off his tag as a "super sub"? In early March, he commented: "It's important to play well when I come on. Even if I play for five minutes, I always give 100%. I'm trying to make a difference and do my best. I want to earn a place in the starting eleven and I need to accept the situation and work hard to earn the starting place."

Listening to Kovac, you get the impression that Jovetic's hard work has paid off: "I know that when he comes on, Stevan gives new impact to our play. He always gives his all and works for the team. He's a goalscorer but always puts in his defensive work. He has progressed most of all in terms of his work-rate. He's a forward and wants to score goals and create chances, but as a team you cannot win unless everybody works hard whether on the ball or off the ball. Several of my players have had to learn how to defend and that's one of the reasons that Stevan didn't play a lot at the start of the season. He was one of those who was very good on the ball but wasn't playing the way I wanted him to play when he didn't have the ball."

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