Newcastle eye Mitrovic as Fulham go down
Fulham’s relegation back to the English Championship was confirmed as the Cottagers went down 2-0 at home to fellow strugglers Burnley. It’s been a difficult campaign for Scott Parker’s men and the drop has left inevitable questions over the future of the manager and many players within the squad.
The west London side have a number of loan signings in their ranks and the likelihood is that they will need to rebuild ahead of the next campaign. However, the biggest concern for Parker is the potential departure of their key centre forward Aleksandar Mitrovic.
Scathing Attack
While all Fulham players will need to hold their hands up following a disappointing campaign, Serbian international Mitrovic was particularly critical of the squad’s performance. In the wake of the Burnley defeat, he said that the club deserved to be relegated and that the players had cracked under pressure.
It was an honest assessment but some fans will naturally read a lot into Mitrovic’s words. Is he on his way out of the club having tired of a lengthy relegation battle?
Fulham will be among the favourites to bounce back when the new Championship season starts. Sportsbooks will start to compile their promotion markets shortly and sbo.net will publish all of the odds as soon as they become available.
As the campaign begins, those odds will be updated after every match. Readers of sbo.net will also be able to access news stories and any relevant opinion pieces related to Fulham’s progress. Expect to also see a panel of recommended sportsbooks, many of whom will have welcome promotions in place.
2021/22 should, therefore, be a more productive season for Fulham but will Aleksandar Mitrovic be a part of it?
Handy Striker
Fulham supporters were first introduced to Aleksandar Mitrovic when he joined the club on loan from Newcastle in 2018. The side were in the Championship at that point and the Serbian made an instant impact, scoring 12 goals in 17 league games.
The Cottagers were impressed enough to sign the striker on a full time contract and he’s so far scored 53 goals in 129 games. That’s a respectable ratio in a struggling side but Mitrovic has a far better record in the Championship. In 2019/20, the Serbian scored 26 goals in 41 games but, in Fulham’s subsequent relegation season, he’s found the net just four times in 29 matches.
Current form is, therefore, disappointing but it seems there would be no shortage of enquiries if Aleksandar Mitrovic were to be put up for sale.
Where Next?
Former club Newcastle are one of the teams mentioned in connection with a move for Mitrovic in the close season. There’s no doubt that he’s improved as a striker but his record at St James’s Park was a modest one.
In 72 games for the club, both in the Championship and the Premier League, the Serbian found the net on just 17 occasions. The Magpies have a need for new attacking players but will that uninspiring return put them off?
Mitrovic’s record is more suited to a Championship side but it’s unlikely that he would want to drop into the second tier. Perhaps one of the newly promoted Premier League clubs will consider a move as Norwich City and Watford prepare for next season.
Brentford, who are in the Championship playoffs, are another possible destination. The Bees will be under pressure to sell key striker Ivan Toney in the summer and Mitrovic would only need to make a short trip across west London to sign on.
A move abroad is also possible but the player may face the same issues outside of England. He’s an attacker whose scoring record is more effective in second division football so it’s unlikely that the likes of Bayern Munich and Inter Milan will come calling. A more plausible destination may be Belgium where he previously spent two seasons with Anderlecht.
The player himself has an important decision to make: At the age of 26, he’s already played for five professional teams so does he look for some stability with Fulham or does Aleksandar Mitrovic need to seek out top flight football in a bid to prove his worth?
