Mika Biereth’s progress has perhaps been the standout story this season with regards to Arsenal’s loanees and the striker took another step in the right direction last night.
After a hugely encouraging first half of the season at Motherwell that encompassed him scoring six goals and providing five assists in 15 matches, Biereth was recalled by Arsenal and subsequently joined Sturm Graz on loan.
Biereth has settled in very quickly to his new surroundings and found the net on his debut against Austria Vienna in the Austrian Cup before also getting on the scoresheet against Slovan Bratislava in the Europa Conference League last night.
It was the first time that Biereth had featured in a European club fixture but he played as he always does – with much confidence and a determination to find the net.
Biereth scored with a clever finish after just four minutes but it is evident upon watching him that he is about much more than just goals.
The Danish youth international’s all-round game is of a very high standard and he is capable of linking play to excellent effect.
Biereth will be looking to help Sturm Graz progress as far as possible in Europe and will also be going for glory in other competitions.
It remains to be seen just what will happen when he returns to Arsenal in the summer as the club will certainly have a big decision to make.
If Biereth isn’t given an opportunity to impress in the Arsenal first-team then he seems like a player who could be sold for a significant fee.
Should he depart, there would be an element of risk attached as the 21-year-old seems well equipped to be a success elsewhere. At present he is focused on being a success for Sturm Graz.
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Jeorge Bird is the author of www.arsenalyouth.wordpress.com Follow him on Twitter @jeorgebird
Jorge seems pretty convinced on this lad. He’s got the stature to offer something different to Jesus up top, so maybe we keep him, slowly up his minutes to see how he contributes and buy another class winger (Neto) and a solid CM (Zubimendi). I’m not massively convinced by Toney or Osimhen, who are maybe a but too old/weird and a bit too expensive respectively.
Sorry, Jeorge!
Not a fan of Toney. Just gives me bad vibes. Terrible attitude. Zero self awareness. We are a team made of ego free players.
Boniface?
Humble, good at link-up play, strong but very mobile and…
a childhood Arsenal fan.
He Wouldnt be bad at all
I don’t think we are in need of a winger. Jesus is a proper top player on either side. In fact, he was even better on the right when he played for City, so I think he would be more than ideal to relieve the burden on Saka.
In this case: we would be able to get a top striker (who delivers goals continously) plus it would open the door for a fair fight for the no. 2 striker role between Nketiah (if he stays), Jesus himself (if he wants to proves us wrong), and a rising star like Biereth.
I was with you all the way until you mentioned possibly keeping Eddie.
Mika this news what you will, but I think this kid is a biereth of fresh air in our development squad
That said if he doesn’t do well this season then just as easily as god Biereth, god will taketh away
The sky’s the limit for this kid – remember that the good book says that the Mika shall inherit the Earth!
He’s good, a far more rounded player than Eddie, I hope he wins something at Sturm Graz and gets a chance with Arsenal.
He could be a far more rounded player just because he doesn’t have that one thing he’s really good at. Maybe if you take away Eddie’s poaching he’s just as rounded a player, ok at everything but great at nothing. He’s shown at times this season he can give a nifty Cesc-ish through ball, press, dribble, lead a counter attack, score from long range… he just can’t do those things very often. Biereth has a long way to show he can do even that.
I’ll tell what Eddie has shown this season:
It’s really important that players go out out and get the relevant game time and experience. Most players require anything between 50-100 first team matches before you have any idea at what level they can play at. You only have to look at our own transfer dealings for the last 20 years to see the difference between signing and playing 19-20 year olds (Walcott, Djourou, Denilson, Senderos etc) and 22-23 year olds (White, Gabriel, Tomi, Odegaard) has on results and consistency. Obviously there are exceptions to this rule, Fabregas and Saka come to mind, but most players need to graduate… Read more »
If you’re good enough – you’re old enough
RE: Saka, Martinelli, ESR and Nketia we have to give Emery some credit with showing faith and giving them the game time they required.
To be fair he didn’t have much else to work with…………
Why did you jump 21 (Henry & RVP)?
Senderos directly skipped his teenage years, he always looked 30+
He always looks like he has time. His touch and hold up play seems really assured too.
He’s got ‘it’, for sure, that something that all footballers seem to have who go on to have decent careers at a high level. Just not sure it’s high enough for us.
Glad to see he’s doing well on his second loan, positive for him and the club. I would imagine the club will market Eddie and Reiss this summer which could leave 2 spots open in attack and maybe three if we get another 6 or 8. We have Leo as a wide left, false 9 and Kai as a L8 and false 9. Will Arteta want an all rounder like Leo, Kai, Jesus, Saka, a pacey winger like Martinelli or a central striker?
Having seen the lad play he’s the ideal Plan B player but good enough to become a starter With that talent around him I’d say we need to start thinking of a Bierith song ? Plus he’s got a bit of steel to him & I like that !
He should definitely be given a chance at Arsenal next season. Pre-season and Carabao Cup can give the crew an idea of what he could bring to the team. Like Saka, he could save us lots of quid we could invest elsewhere.
If we had him in early enough and he counts as homegrown, sell Eddie and integrate him into squad to keep quota numbers.
I’ve said it before – we need to keep this kid. Strong, skillful and with an unerring instinct for putting it in the net.
Great hold-up play, good in the air… has performed everywhere we’ve sent him…
what’s not to like?!
The kid is now 21. His family are Arsenal supporters. He was born and raised in London. We should not stuff this up…