According to The Chronicle, Aleksandar Mitrovic, despite a difficult first season at St. James’ Park, has declared that he has absolutely “no regrets” about having signed for Newcastle United last summer.
There was much optimism surrounding Mitrovic’s arrival at Tyneside last July. However, he did not quite hit his straps during his first season in the top flight of English football.
His debut was against Southampton at St James’ Park on the 9th August. Within only 3 seconds of coming on the field, he was booked for a dodgy tackle on Southampton’s Matt Targett. A week later, when playing Swansea at the Liberty Stadium, he was on the field for 90 seconds before picking up yet another yellow card. Not content with two yellow cards in two substitute appearances, Mitrovic went one step further against Arsenal the following week and got sent off within 15 minutes for a bad tackle on Coquelin.
Mitrovic scored nine goals and provided four assists in 34 Premier League appearances for Newcastle last season. He finished off the season in a way only Mitrovic could. During Newcastle’s 5-1 demolition of Spurs he scored a goal, made an assist for a goal and then got sent off for a very dangerous shin-high tackle on Kyle Walker. This second red card of the season now means that Mitrovic will miss the first four games of the 2016/17 Championship campaign.
However, despite his ill-discipline and average form, a large percentage of Newcastle supporters have decided to stick by him. During Newcastle’s pre-season games, Newcastle fans have been serenading Mitrovic with chants of “Mitros on fire, your defence is terrified.”
Mitrovic has really appreciated this support and has declared that he loves playing at the club. During an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, Mitrovic stated:
I feel like I am at home. It is a nice city, the people are nice and it’s a big club. The fans are just brilliant. I honestly feel like I am just back in my home country.
Mitrovic now wants to repay the Geordie faithful in the best way that he can; by scoring loads of goals next season. Whilst others, such as Townsend and Wijnaldum, have left the club this summer because they did not want to be playing second-tier football, Mitrovic has declared that he could not possibly walk away from such passionate fans.
In the same interview with The Chronicle, he states that it this passion shown by the Newcastle fans that make him love the game:
It [the passion] is why I signed here, and the reason I want to be a footballer. I enjoy every game in training and each game I play. I hope to give back a lot of the love from the fans with goals. We have a good relationship and I hope that continues this season. I want us to get promoted and for everybody to enjoy it as a group, the fans and players.
If Mitrovic keeps up this positive and refreshing attitude and bangs in the goals next season, he could soon see himself become a fans’ favourite at St. James’ Park.
