Speaking to the Chronicle, Newcastle United striker Aleksandar Mitrovic has stated that he jokingly asked teammate Dwight Gayle to stop scoring so many goals in order to allow him to play more regularly.
Mitrovic joined Newcastle United from Anderlecht last summer and although the striker had his ups and downs during his debut campaign at St. James’ Park, the club faithful definitely took a liking to the Serbian international due to his committed displays.
With Newcastle having suffered relegation into the Championship, it was expected that Mitrovic would be starring in the second tier of English football due to his immense quality but the wonderful form of new signing Dwight Gayle has meant that the 22-year-old has had to patiently wait for his opportunities on the sidelines.
Now Mitrovic has gone on to state that he is a team player but has admitted that he has jokingly asked Gayle to stop scoring so many goals in order to allow him some playing time on the pitch.
The young striker told the Chronicle, “This is my job – to score goals. I try to do my job the best that I can. Of course, I’m a team player and I will always try to help my team-mates and if I have to choose between scoring or giving assists, I will give assists.
“We have a lot of players like this and that’s positive because we work very well. It’s hard to play when (Dwight) Gayle is scoring in every game.
“I’ve said to Gayle a few times ‘please, leave me to play a little!’ but he keeps scoring goals. It’s good to have a lot of players – Mo (Diame), Ayo (Perez), Dwight, me – who can score goals for the team.
“We should keep going and try to work hard. It doesn’t matter who scores but it matters after that game that we get three points and we go forward.”