Mika Biereth says Arsenal rejected an attempt by Sturm Graz to sign him permanently before giving the green light to January’s loan deal.
The Denmark under-21 striker moved to the Austrian club after the Gunners curtailed a season-long arrangement with Motherwell and so far the decision is paying dividends.
Having performed well in the SPL scoring six goals and making five assists in 14 appearances, Biereth has continued his good form in his new surroundings netting five goals in his first seven matches, including his first in European competition.
It’s a testament to Sporting Director Andreas Schicker and the Sturm Graz scouting operation that they were convinced Biereth had the quality to ‘perfectly fulfil the striker profile’ having followed the player for over a year.
“He [Schicker] even said himself that they tried to do a permanent [transfer],” Biereth told the i newspaper.
“I was open to that as well but Arsenal weren’t looking to allow me to leave.”
Having struggled on loan in Holland last season – Biereth played only 357 minutes for RKC Waalwijk – confidence is now soaring and the attacker hopes the next few months provide a platform to impress Mikel Arteta in the summer.
“Motherwell was massive, almost like a comeback because the first loan spell went nowhere near the plan we had,” said Biereth.
“There were loads of reasons [why Waalwijk didn’t work out] but I don’t feel like I ever got a fair opportunity to play.
“I needed to play games and Motherwell sounded very willing to do that before I came and then thankfully when I did come they did play me a lot and I was able to return the favour with a few goals.
“I’m on loan so all I can do is score as many goals and play as well as I can so that when I come back in the summer hopefully I can get an opportunity.
Biereth has trained with the Arsenal first team on a semi-regular basis in the past and was even included in a few matchday squads during the 21/22 season when the first team struggled with injuries.
It’s an experience that has left an indelible mark…mostly on his ankles.
“The more you train with the first-team, the more used to it you get and those kinds of training sessions put me in good stead for playing with the 21s and then out on my loans,” he added.
“One of the first sessions I was over there I was trying to hold the ball up and big Gabi [Magalhaes] just clattered through the back of me. It felt like a car crash!
“He is massive and I would have only been 18 at the time. Just things like that, the speed and the physicality of it [helped].”
It’ll be interesting to see what happens next with Biereth, especially given Arsenal wanted to keep him on the books a little longer. As someone who played alongside Folarin Balogun for a year at academy level, he knows all too well how quickly doors can open when loan spells go well.
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It’s well worth reading Mika’s full interview with the i’s Oliver Young-Myles. Click here.
The highlights of his recent spell are very impressive, he is strong physically and technically. Starting to look like a possibility as our new striker, let’s see how the rest of his season goes. Would be fantastic if we get another of our youngsters stepping up.
Two-footed as well!
I absolutely love his name.
Watched a comp of him on Twitter only yesterday and my thought was he would probably be sent on loan again next season and be ready for the first team in a couple of years. He looks like he has the required minerals to be a good – great striker in the coming years.
Makes sense, he is two years younger than Balogun. We just have to find the right club next year to allow him to shine the way Flo did at Reims.
Season long loan at Millwall.
I hope he does well in Austria this year and I do hope they win the league. I’d want to see him get an extension on his contract then get a loan spell at Dortmund.
If he does well we would have a player on our hands or a fat fee in our coffers, hopefully the player.
Best of luck Mika
Absolutely love the idea of Big Gabi demolishing people in training
I love that the players refer to him as Big Gabi too!
This kid reminds of Alan Shearer for some reason. We need to loan him to a midtable team like Chelsea and United to get some Premier League experience.
🤣
He’s primed to be a saleable asset this summer. Mark my words, this will be his last year on Arsenal’s books. There is a good player in there but we need cash now to finance an extra superstar player or two who can elevate us even further. He’s ready to play regularly and we don’t have time to wait for him. Thanks and all the best to you Mika.
I should have specified, we don’t have time to wait for him to be ready at the elite level of this Arsenal squad.
I agree. Same with Patino, by the way.
Talking out my ass here, but I think we need a mix of selling and using hale end grads. Only selling will weaken out position and while I think we should sell nelson & eddie, I think we should keep biereth as he’ll take time to grow and hopefully he is okay learning from the best players we have.
Gabriel “Car Crash” Magalhaes
Man, I really like this kid. Always have done.
Big, fast, strong, two-footed, rocket shot and has a great attitude to go with all that.