Aleksandar Mitrović

[TRon]

He’ll never be worth more....

 

That's my view since I don't think he's as effective in the Premier as he is in either the championship or international football where you can come up against weaker defenders. But I can see the argument that he's still young so might do better this time round. Not convinced personally, but it's possible.

[Nobody]

Always find it unreasonably annoying when Tron just types 'the Premier'.

[triggs]

Always find it unreasonably annoying when Tron just types 'the Premier'.

[TRon]

Always find it unreasonably annoying when Tron just types 'the Premier'.

 

I'm sure Joey pulled me up about it as well but at least you've acknowledged it's unreasonable.

[Odear]

Maybe he needed to leave us to get his mojo back. He could be a different player when he returns

[morla84]

Will probably be a De Jong situation. He'll come back in pre-season, look like he's in the manager's plans, then leave late in the window.

Doubt he'll feature in preseason until Porto or Augsburg depending on when Serbia go out

[Colos Short and Curlies]

I imagine we'd all be pretty excited if we were being linked to buy Mitro this summer. Would really like to see him succeed here

[Guest ElCid]

Never going to happen in a month of sundays he will be sold well before the season starts. Rafa does not fancy him one jot and if a player like Joselu can get in the team before you then there is not a chance in hell for him having his career here extended.

[HawK]

Never going to happen in a month of sundays he will be sold well before the season starts. Rafa does not fancy him one jot and if a player like Joselu can get in the team before you then there is not a chance in hell for him having his career here extended.

 

Did you forget for a second who owns the club you support when you posted that?

[Guest ElCid]

Never going to happen in a month of sundays he will be sold well before the season starts. Rafa does not fancy him one jot and if a player like Joselu can get in the team before you then there is not a chance in hell for him having his career here extended.

 

Never going to happen in a month of sundays he will be sold well before the season starts. Rafa does not fancy him one jot and if a player like Joselu can get in the team before you then there is not a chance in hell for him having his career here extended.

 

 

 

Did you forget for a second who owns the club you support when you posted that?

 

 

As long as Rafa is here Mitrovic will be gone the manager picks the team not the owner and I’m certain Ashley is already rubbing his hands at that profit

[The College Dropout]

I imagine we'd all be pretty excited if we were being linked to buy Mitro this summer. Would really like to see him succeed here

 

Aye it's a shame really.

 

Rafa's more important but in 5 years time it might look a big mistake.

[FustinoSolano]

Agree with the consensus that he'll be on his way as it's been clear from day one Rafa has never fancied him, probably for a variety of reasons, temperament, lack of mobility, attitude etc. However it is pretty galling to see him score continuously for Fulham and Serbia when we've had to watch Gayle and Joselu misfire all season.

 

Rafa has improved most if not all players in the current squad which makes it that bit more puzzling, he's such a good coach / man manager yet he clearly believes Mitro is a lost cause. Suppose the only silver lining is that if he keeps banging them in his price will just keep going up.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

To get the best out of Mitrovic here we would have to change our whole way of playing and it’s obvious what Rafa wants from his front players, energy, mobility and the ability to adapt roles, positions and tactics. I don’t think Mitrovic is that type of player and never will be. He’s basically an old style centre-forward. If he has a decent WC I can see a host of clubs being in for him, but if I were him I’d make the move to Fulham permanent as they play to his strengths, he has a manager who trusts him, fans who adore him and in the PL the level he needs to be proving himself at week in week out. I think he’d be a handful in Italy as well.

[jackyboy]

I always think that Mitro fails to impress in the big games by trying too hard and often getting into trouble. I thought in Villas final run in and play offs he was very ordinary, almost cumbersome.

[Dokko]

I always think that Mitro fails to impress in the big games by trying too hard and often getting into trouble. I thought in Villas final run in and play offs he was very ordinary, almost cumbersome.

 

Well that's your fault for watching villa expecting to see him shine.

[Guest Howaythetoon]

I always think that Mitro fails to impress in the big games by trying too hard and often getting into trouble. I thought in Villas final run in and play offs he was very ordinary, almost cumbersome.

 

He’s never going to be that kind of match winner or big game player because he doesn’t have the skills, pace or creativity to effect a game by himself as a player. He’s someone who relies massively on the team to have a say rather than him being the one that has the final say. He is an ordinary player, but can score goals if given the right service.

[Cronky]

I wouldn't take the risk. With us, he was a very costly failure, and that could be to do with the extra pressure of playing for our club.

[Kaizero]

I always think that Mitro fails to impress in the big games by trying too hard and often getting into trouble. I thought in Villas final run in and play offs he was very ordinary, almost cumbersome.

 

Well that's your fault for watching villa expecting to see him shine.

 

[Guest]

Regardless of his style of play, he's making a mockery of the Misstrovic tag he was given. Was scoring goals for us in pre-season and a couple early on too. Even in a Rafa system I think he could do something. His goals per minute ratio under Benitez is decent.

[Shearergol]

Regardless of his style of play, he's making a mockery of the Misstrovic tag he was given. Was scoring goals for us in pre-season and a couple early on too. Even in a Rafa system I think he could do something. His goals per minute ratio under Benitez is decent.

 

He's bang average mate, all he does is score lots of goals. I'd much rather have a player with a bit of guile (like Gayle) who never scores, but at least he doesn't try too hard etc etc etc

[thomas]

reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[thomas]

I know who WONT be getting my vote for best foreign poster

I expect to be well into the negative this year. Been a right cunt tbh, no excuses.

[LoveItIfWeBeatU]

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/aleksandar-mitrovic-scores-again-possible-14766442

 

As Aleksandar Mitrovic scores again, is it possible Rafa Benitez would have rethink?

Aleksandar Mitrovic's price is rocketing with every goal and we may see him in a Newcastle shirt again

 

By Mark Douglas

 

Had you offered Newcastle United fans a £20million-rated striker heading to the World Cup who had hit 12 goals in 18 Championship games and an England under-21 forward who was one of the stars of the Toulon Tournament as their attacking incomings this summer, few would have turned their noses up.

 

Given that the Magpies – before their summer recruitment kicks into gear – can count on a £6million striker who looks just that and Dwight Gayle, who hardly answered the critics who claim his level is plundering goals in the Championship, it seems strange that it is Aleksandar Mitrovic and Adam Armstrong who face uncertain futures rather than their striking team-mates.

 

 

Mitrovic scored a superb hat-trick on Saturday night as he continued his red-hot form in 2018. For all that Rafa Benitez has explained why the Serbia striker does not fit into his plans for Newcastle, it does seem like a crying shame that there might not be one last chance for a striker who is making the most of the minutes he has been afforded this year.

 

Granted, Bolivia are not heading to the World Cup and offered precious little resistance against a Serbia side that look motivated ahead of this week’s World Cup kick-off. But Mitrovic looks lean and raring to go and his hat-trick goal was a wonderfully weighted long-range effort that would seem to confirm that when he’s playing with confidence he is a force.

 

To recap: Benitez felt last term that his team would be up against it for long periods so Mitrovic was a luxury he couldn’t afford.

 

“I couldn’t guarantee the way that we wanted to play (he would play),” he said back in February at a live podcast recording .

 

This was before the Fulham goals, before we knew the summer recruitment plans would hinge on selling him for big money. But it was revealing.

 

“If you know Mitro really well – if you attack and you create a lot of chances and crosses he will score goals, no doubt that. But a team that has 40-45 or even 35% possession in some games, you have to defend in some games, you have to play counter-attack. If you don’t have all these players who can do that and you have to sacrifice something.

 

“We were talking about the main thing of this team – it is the team, the organisation of the team. If we don’t do that, we will be exposed. When we went 1-0 up against Man United (in the Old Trafford game) or Chelsea, we were a little bit open and we conceded.

 

“In the FA Cup against Chelsea we had to attack in the second half so we were open and we conceded. We couldn’t manage it. The team is the key and the characteristic of the players are crucial. For me, I have to do the best for both.”

 

That made sense when Newcastle were where they were in February, struggling to squeeze every point.

 

But when they had Kenedy making them more expansive and Martin Dubravka allowing them to play out from the back, there was a different dimension to the side. Could Mitrovic – or this Mitrovic, anyhow – have looked a bit more at home?

 

Mitrovic says that he would be open to move to Fulham but it’s also understood that he has not shut the door on a return to Newcastle IF Benitez was to give him more opportunities.

 

The striker has remained respectful and has even spoken to Benitez and Newcastle at the end of his season with Fulham – with Benitez sending personal congratulations to the forward on winning promotion with the Cottagers.

 

It would be one hell of a U-turn but Benitez has always said that there was nothing personal about his decision not to play Mitrovic. If he thinks it would work for Newcastle, he would be happy to shelve his ego and work with Mitrovic again. The striker’s 18 goals last season and continued improvement internationally will be giving him food for thought – as well as pushing his value up.

 

While United were initially looking for £20million the price is now understood to be higher. If he has a good World Cup Newcastle will be wanting closer to £30million, which is why they haven’t entertained quick business. If there is one thing Newcastle have always done well under Mike Ashley it’s be difficult sellers, and Lee Charnley will be well aware that Joe Kinnear paid with his job when he undersold Yohan Cabaye.

 

No doubt there will be some who counsel that Mitrovic should be given another shot.

 

It still seems unlikely. Privately Benitez had spoken of the need to refresh the team and sees other options as better for Newcastle moving forward. To get the team set up to play the way he would want them to play with Mitrovic leading the line would require some serious, expensive surgery and would go against his instincts.

 

But the Islam Slimani experiment failed and Sunday reports of interest in Salomon Rondon do not excite . There is always the possibility that Benitez will not get anyone of the required calibre to lead the line and then what?

 

Mitrovic is worth more than any other Newcastle striker and if he returns in pre-season with Benitez prepared to play him, there won’t be too many Newcastle fans feeling upset.

[KaKa]

If Mitrovic has a good world cup, and we are able to add a couple of players that can help improve our possession and attacking play, I definitely feel like Rafa will keep Mitro and give him a chance to lead the line.

[HawK]

If Mitrovic has a good world cup, and we are able to add a couple of players that can help improve our possession and attacking play, I definitely feel like Rafa will keep Mitro and give him a chance to lead the line.

 

To be honest I think it just makes it more and more likely that Rafa will sell him if it's his decision. He doesn't like Mitro and if someone will give us 25m he'll take it so we can buy 2 grafters instead. Not intended to be a criticism of Rafa but I think this is just how he works.