Fulham suffered relegation from the Premier League after producing some terrible displays for much of the campaign. The Cottagers form improved towards the end of the season under caretaker boss Scott Parker, but it was not enough to save them from the drop.
There were a few bright spots in Fulham’s campaign, one of those bright spots was the performances of Serbian striker Aleksandr Mitrovic. The striker scored 11 goals and produced three assists in a poor Fulham side in the top-flight last season.
The Serb has previously played in the Championship. However, it seems likely that the striker will remain in the Premier League next season. The Standard claims that the Cottagers will sell the 24-year-old for a fee of around £30million.
Could be a bargain buy
The mooted fee of £30million is really not a big transfer fee in these crazy times in the transfer market. In fact, for an international striker of his age with Premier League experience, he could turn out to be a bargain buy.
Finding goalscorers at the highest level can be difficult, so this could be a good opportunity for a club in the middle or bottom half of the Premier League table to grab a goalscorer.
Mitrovic’s stats would improve with better teammates
The fact that Mitrovic suffered relegation is unlikely to put off prospective buyers. Every season teams suffer relegation and their best players move on and are often successful in the Premier League.
Two good examples of that are at Everton, where goalkeeper Jordan Pickford and midfielder Idrissa Gueye have become key members of the Toffees squad after joining from clubs relegated from the top-flight.
Mitrovic’s record of 11 top-flight goals in 37 matches is a decent one. However, it is not prolific by a lot of peoples standards. The key here is that his teammates were not great. In a team with better quality teammates and he could score far more goals than he did this season.
He is a striker still learning his trade at the top-level and he will miss chances. However, he has a lot of the attributes that could turn him into a very good Premier League striker in the future.
A number of clubs interested
Mitrovic is not quite at the right level to play for the top-six in the Premier League just yet. However, a number of the teams that finished in mid-table last season seem to be monitoring the Serbian situation at Craven Cottage.
West Ham are currently the favourites to sign the striker this summer, with Everton and Crystal Palace also high in the betting. The link to West Ham and Everton makes sense, as both may need a striker for next season.
Palace could also lose star forward Wilfried Zaha this summer, which free up funds and mean the Eagles would need a replacement for the Ivorian.
Aleksandr Mitrovic’s next destination is at the minute unknown. However, it seems almost certain that the striker will be plying his trade in the English top-flight next season. If the reports of his mooted transfer fee are true, then he could prove to be a good buy for whoever captures his signature this summer.
Where will Aleksandr Mitrovic be plying his trade next season?
