Impressive Fulham manager Slavisa Jokanovic has already made up his mind that he wants his Serbian compatriot – the Newcastle striker Aleksandar Mitrovic – at Fulham on a permanent basis.
Mitro went on loan to Fulham in late January and has scored two goals for the Cottagers, but the striker seems exactly what Jokanovic needed – a goalscoring target man up front.
Mitro has been getting good reviews from London, but in order to sign the Newcastle striker, Fulham will need to get promoted to the Premier League in May.
That’s what the Northern Echo are reporting today, and Fulham reached the playoffs last year after beating Newcastle twice in the league.
Aleksandar Mitrovic – in action at West Brom this season
Currently, the Cottagers are in 5th place and could even have a small chance of finishing the league in the top two and automatic promotion.
With 12 games to play, they are 8 points behind second-placed Cardiff City.
Anderlecht and some other clubs were keen to take Mitrovic on loan in January, and the striker will almost certainly be sold by Rafa Benitez this summer.
For whatever reason, the Newcastle manager hasn’t played Mitro much since he came to Newcastle – just 36 games in the last two years.
There are clubs in Europe also interested in the striker and maybe some Premier League clubs too.
Mitro is almost certain to be in Serbia’s squad for the World Cup in Russia this summer.
And a good performance there could raise his price above the £14M we paid Anderlecht for him almost three years ago.
Mitro has played 33 times for his country with 11 goals, and his goals were vital to Serbia qualifying for the World Cup finals.
He has scored 17 goals in 72 appearances for Newcastle since he was signed from Anderlecht with some fanfare.
What do you think?
Comments welcome.
7 comments so far
Jib
Mar 1, 2018 at 8:43 AM
Comment #1Yeah it is quite startling
😎
Jib
Mar 1, 2018 at 8:53 AM
Comment #2About Saturday
Liverpool play a dynamic 4 – 3 – 3
Last week West Ham at Anfield played
3 – 4- 2 -1 with Arnautovic ploughing
a lonely furrow up top
It signally failed
They got smacked 4 -1
Our midfield 5 at SJP vs Liverpool was
Shelvey Merino Ritchie Atsu Perez who
worked their socks off
more of the same would be nice
Geordie-john
Mar 1, 2018 at 9:07 AM
Comment #3Not sure what the problem is between Mitro and Rafa but it will be a massive mistake for the club to sell him. He is a proven goal scorer which is obvious due to the interest from other clubs allegedly queuing up to sign him.
The lad really wanted to play for us but was pushed further and further back in the pecking order. Surely Rafa can be professional enough to put whatever disagreement they may have had and push on with our survival in the Premiership, Or at least make it public to the fans what the problem is or was.
Munster Mag
Mar 1, 2018 at 9:19 AM
Comment #4The error has been made already Geordie John. We couldn’t fit an international level striker into our team and were gping to spend millions on Jorgensen who doesn’t look fit for purpose. Instead we stuck with a useless Spaniard and didn’t give Mitro a sniff. Despite the fact that when given a chance, he had a serious influence on the West Brom game . Appalling.
Nottooningham
Mar 1, 2018 at 9:31 AM
Comment #5I don’t believe there has been a break down in relationship between Rafa and Mitro. I listened to a podcast of an interview with Rafa in front of an audience. One of the audience members asked Rafa about why he wasn’t played and his answer was that Mitro would be great striker in a team that was performing strongly all over the pitch but in the team we currently have Mitro is too attacking and does not offer enough defensively. Mitro has talked very positively about Rafa since leaving and has said in understands Rafa’s position. I believe if (and that’s a big ‘if’ with Mr Cashley at the helm) we strengthen the squad over the summer there will be a place for Mitro next season.
Nottooningham
Mar 1, 2018 at 9:32 AM
Comment #6One can only hope anyway
KevinLee
Mar 1, 2018 at 11:36 AM
Comment #7Tom Cairney & Ryan Sessegnon exchange please