The long-running transfer saga of Aleksandar Mitrovic’s proposed move to Newcastle United have finally ended, as the Magpies confirmed the £13million deal for the Anderlecht striker.
It is understood that the player will be earning roughly £25,000-a-week and has accepted a lucrative bonus scheme.
The 20-year-old is considered to be a massive coup for Newcastle United, being hotly tipped to be a future world-class striker by many within the football world. Here, we take a closer look at what exactly Newcastle United can expect from the Serbian.
Background and history:
Born in Smederevo, Mitrovic came through the youth set-up at Partizan Belgrade, and signed his first professional contract with the club in 2012. He burst onto the scene after scoring nine minutes into his debut as a substitute in a Champions League qualifier against Maltese side Valletta. He ended his debut season with Partizan as their top scorer in all competitions, with 15 goals in 36 appearances.
Belgian club Anderlecht moved in to pay a club-record fee of £3.5m for Mitrovic during the summer of 2013. Again, it didn’t take the youngster long to make an impact, as he assisted two goals from the bench on his debut against Zulte Waregem. Mitrovic ended his debut season in Belgium with 16 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions, and last season went even better as he found the net 28 times.
Internationally, Mitrovic has just the one goal to his name for the Serbian senior national side, which came in 2013 during a World Cup Qualifier against Croatia. But Mitrovic was the star man in Serbia’s UEFA U19 Championship-winning side, and his performances saw him named the tournament’s Golden Player.
Style of play:
It’s somewhat of a cliché, but Mitrovic is certainly what you’d call an “old-fashioned” striker. He does most of his damage by bullying defenders and getting on the end of crosses. But that’s not all there is to his game, as he has also been effectively deployed as a winger on the odd occasion at Anderlecht.
He has drawn some comparisons with Robert Lewandowski in that he has great aerial threat, but is also more than capable of playing with the ball at his own feet too.
Strengths:
Quite simply, the boy is a born finisher. As previously mentioned, Mitrovic is a real handful in the air. At a height of 6ft 2 and with excellent strength and heading ability, if Newcastle can supply a good enough service to the Serbian striker, there is no doubt he will score goals.
He has been widely credited for his movement in the box and poacher’s instinct, and is sure to be a pain for Premier League opposition defences. But aside the preconceptions that may arrive with your average tall striker, Mitrovic is far from unreliable with the ball on the ground. He has excellent technique and is well able to bring his teammates into an attack, as well as his impressive goal record, Mitrovic has also provided his fair share of assists during his career so far.
Weaknesses:
It has been well-documented that there is a rather large question mark over his attitude. He seems rather cocky and arrogant, and on an off-day frustration may tend to get the better of him. He may bring his number 45 shirt with him to Newcastle, a number already infamous within the Premier League with one well-known football “bad boy”. But hopefully any potential attitude issue that can be ironed out of him with age, as well as via McClaren’s desire to instill more discipline within the squad.
The biggest problem could be his work rate, something that some European football analysts have criticised. As we all know, Newcastle fans won’t ask for too much more than for the players on the pitch to give their all. However, other pundits have rubbished these claims, stating that Mitrovic works a lot harder than may be assumed at first, particularly when attempting to bring his teammates into an attacking move.
Expert Opinion: Sam Tighe, football journalist with Bleacher Report, CNN and AP Sports
Mitrovic is a very intelligent striker, spatially aware and clever on the ball. He’s an instinctive finisher and a real thumper when it comes to headers — get him good service from wide and he’ll score 10 headers a season. Good with his feet too and I’ve seen him score with right and left. Good movement, runs, little jinks in the box to create space for himself. He’s a decent ball-player/distributor when holding and playing his midfielders in, but not perfect.
I’m a big fan of him talent-wise and jealous Newcastle have signed him/are signing him.
Downside is he’s a little unstable mentally. He sulks on the pitch when it’s not going his way, starts dropping way too deep to get on the ball, and because he isn’t that quick, he can’t make up the ground and he ends up in the wrong part of the pitch, away from any possible attacks. He’s headbutted an opponent at least twice, and the Anderlecht fans turned on him at one point and he just couldn’t bear it, taking to the media to complain about them “howling” at him. It only subsided when he got back on the scoring path.
It’s all about keeping him placated; McClaren has a prodigious talent to work with, but it’s also arguably his biggest challenge ever when it comes to keeping him on track. It’s not as bad, but it has shades of Balotelli: Brilliance entwined with immaturity and mental instability (but less pronounced).
