Who is Aleksandar Mitrović?

Mitrovic celebrates
Mitrovic celebrates
Without being confirmed as yet, it does look increasingly likely that Newcastle are about to bag their second transfer of the summer in the form of Aleksandar Mitrović.

The 20-year-old Serbian striker looks set to sign for United by putting pen to paper on a five-year contract with the Magpies hopefully bringing to an end to what had threatened to become one of those protracted and frustrating deals.

I’ll confess that I know next to nothing about the lad however some fans seem to be suggesting that we’re about to witness the second coming of Jesus. Whist I remain dubious about that fact, there does seem to be a train of thought which suggests that we will have pulled off a coup in the transfer market by bagging one of the most highly-rated young strikers in Europe should the move actually be confirmed. You can check the odds of the transfer being completed, amongst other things, in this special betting promotion.

So what exactly is it that United are buying into? As mentioned previously, prior to us being linked with the striker I actually didn’t know too much about him. I knew of him (mainly from watching Anderlecht in the Champions League), but that isn’t to say that I know all about him. Nevertheless I’ve been reading up on him, collating thoughts, studying his record and analyzing video footage to try and bring you the pros and cons of Aleksandar Mitrović, starting with the cons.

Cons

At 6ft 2in he is certainly no shrinking violet on the pitch, and that follows him off the pitch too! Indeed one Belgian journalist once described Mitrovic as “making Mario Balotelli look normal” which could lead to some interesting times ahead if it turns out to be true.

His celebration (as pictured) also courted controversy when he first unveiled it, and that fact he hasn’t changed it would suggest he likes to do things his own way. Whilst I have my own opinion on how his celebration could be perceived, as did many others, it is apparently an answer to his critics. Essentially he is putting two fingers up to them and cutting off their tongues. Hmmm…. And quite how that would fit into an image conscious Premier League remains to be seen.

On the pitch you can’t really argue with his goal return, but his style of play has led to accusations of laziness in the past and his disciplinary record is not exactly sparkling which makes it likely that we’ll lose him to suspension at some time during the course of the season. Not that I’m expecting Mary Poppins from a player who is essentially still a young lad, but maybe some of that aggression needs to be curbed.

Pros

Just expanding on that last point, I’d counter the laziness part of the argument by saying that I’d prefer the strikers to be up front, you know where the goal they are supposed to be scoring into is. And aggression, channeled correctly, can actually be a good thing.

Goal return is something else that we’re buying. It’s been impressive to date and he’s bagged 69 goals in 158 senior club appearances which is a goal every 2.2 games, which is not bad at all. Granted those aren’t Premier League goals but if you watch the video below you’ll see that the majority of goal actually come about through being in the right place at the right time.

Mitrovic, should he arrive, has been courted by some of the biggest sides in the Premier League and beyond. Now a lot of that may have just been newspaper speculation but it seems he has an admirer in the form of Jose Mourinho. The Chelsea boss spoke about Mitrovis after watching score for Serbia against Croatia and is quoted as saying:

“Mitrovic was the best player on the pitch. He managed to keep the ball well and that was the key. That boy has everything to be a European star.”

High praise from the Special One!

Now any transfer is a risk. I’ve seen people pitch for Charlie Austin because he’s done it in the Premier League but realistically he’s done it for one season and nobody knows if he will replicate it again. The same can be said for Mitrovic – nobody knows how it will work out, if indeed it does turn out that he signs for us.

But what we are seeing is a pitch up in ambition of signings, and at the very least that is the most positive thing that we’ve seen for a long time.

About toonsy

A lifelong Newcastle fan and current webmaster of this very 'blog who has the sole aim of creating a place by Newcastle United fans, for Newcastle United fans.

197 thoughts on “Who is Aleksandar Mitrović?

  1. Toonsy nice to see one from you 😉 said before the PL is a strange old lge let’s hope he hits the ground running,although not a striker Cabella was the biggest thing in French lges 25 goals in 90 odd games and many assist but has shown much here let’s hope this lad breaks the mould

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  2. Nice to have you back Toonsy. When I saw the title on news now I thought .com had stolen my writing style! Glad to see it was only my nufcblog mentor! 😆

    Good write up by the way. I particularly like how he takes his time to find the perfect angle to score. No rushing or blasting, just turn and slot. Will be great to see some composure in front of goal.

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  3. Toonsy. Nice one and I agree we can’t go heaping too much pressure on the guy. He will need time to adjust however good he is.

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  4. KIM just my thoughts have they learned anything,by the way what kind of fish did you get,Mrs used to have parrot fish and few big fish called tank busters,I don’t know much about fish,I know once she had one failing so she gave it a blast from a inhaler it worked my god

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  5. What medical in London and stolen by another team. That doesn’t sound like good news does it.

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  6. I agree with Prem, medical, paperwork and off to the US…maybe 😕 . If the medical was done in Newcastle it wouldn’ make a blind bit of difference to whether another club gazumps us or not. It’s his agent and Dad that would be approached not the kid..apparenty some people even get contacted by this thing called telephone so you don’t even have to be in the same country! 😯 😆

    Siamese firghters ar the best fish :mrgreen:

    Planets must be aligned, Toonsy has awoken 😆 Good read mate 😎

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  7. PREM you enjoy mate,keep away from the zoo its a dirty hole,was when I took grand kids a while back shocked me they hadn’t been pulled up

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  8. Ice…Me Dad used to have one, used to go ballistic if you put a mirror against the tank 😈

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  9. Cheers Toonsy I am pleased we have got a much needed striker, but without sounding ungrateful I dont know why we didnt go for a proven EPL goal scorer in Austin, as it is a risk that the guy can do it in the prem. Now we need to focus on CB’s.

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  10. DAVE that’s the same thoughts I have over Austin,you never know jab a might have lost his marbles and get both lol

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  11. I wonder what number they will give him? If it is 9 that will be a pointer to what they want with Cisse and Austin. Number 11 was vacant last year and number 6 has been vacant for about 4 years.

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  12. Kim…What can I say, I was a 10 yr old boy 😳 😉

    Ice…Divn’t worry, Austin will be here next week 😯

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  13. Dave that’s the first I’ve seen Framptin fight, though I know of him. Impressive performance after the first round. If he’s going to stay stateside I’d like to see him fight the winner of Mares and Santa Cruz that is scheduled for next month

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  14. MDA that is the poorest I have seen him, I k ow Conzales isn’t his style of fighter. But something just didnt look right with Carl

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  15. Dave he said in the post fight that he had tk cut too much weight in the last few days and wants to go up to featherweight now

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  16. MDS Conzales fought a lot better than most thought he would, and yeah it looks like having to lose the weight had effected him

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  17. Whats Mitrovic gesturing in that photo? Must be a serbian gesture of peace and harmony! 😯 😆

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  18. Seems like it’s just me and you, Richie.

    I can’t see any difference in our style of play, and it’s all very sedate. Sacramento look the more dangerous side, especially from those free kicks.

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  19. Bris. ..doesn’t seem to be quite as much hoofing from the back as usual. Hard to tell owt from pre seasons as team is nowhere near what will be our starting 11 (hopefully ) plus no one really busting a gut and putting a foot in

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  20. It really does look like a game between one side on a training run and another in a competitive game.

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  21. Good to see the game. I can’t say I saw any major change in style. Aarons was entertaining for the short time he was on. Nobody else stood out.

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  22. Yep agree about Aarons, like I said I think we tried to play out from the back more than usual but that could be as much about the standard of opposition as much as owt else

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  23. It is hard to learn anything when it is pre-season against a pub team. However, Williiamson would have looked at home playing for them. What was he doing fouling their player on the edge of our box and again losing his man at the end when they almost scored. Please Schteve get the defender from Anderlecht and play ABW (Anyone But Williamson).

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  24. My comments are:

    Willo get cannot be starting – he does not fit in. We are still crying out for at least 1, preferably 2 CBs

    Aarons is electric. Tries to do it all and sometimes succeeds. Needs to look up a little more but we need to keep him!

    de Jong needs to gain a lot of fitness but reads the game well and good reflexes

    We are definitely playing out of the back more

    4-2-3-1 has been the formation every match so far.

    We need a replacement for Cisse

    Gini looks assured and wants to take the dead ball. What is his ability like there? Colback is a step down from Raylor.

    Speaking of Colback – teamed up well with Anita. Interesting – I wonder if they are our DM pair this season? If so, Tiote is surplus?

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  25. It is good to see De Jong, Aarons, Taylor and Wij get playing time. Maybe we will even have a full squad to start the season?

    We are also seeing for the millionth time that Willo and Obertan are just not good enough.

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  26. So could the following be a first 11?

    Krul
    Janmaat Colo? new CB please!!! Haidara
    Anita Colback
    Gini de Jong Aarons
    Mitty

    That would mean Sissokho and Tiote are off. Although Gini is box to box, he isn’t a DM, he is an AMF or MF so would be play to the right of de Jong perhaps where Sissokho plays?

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  27. “It is hard to learn anything when it is pre-season against a pub team”…I’m not sure Sacramento wanted to learn anything nor is it their pre-season 😉 😆

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  28. Griff: who is going to buy Sissoko? He is in dreamland if he thinks he is good enough for Arsenal. If we can anywhere near 10 mil for him I would ship him out, he is just too inconsistent – he had a bit of a ‘mare tonight if you ask me.

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  29. I know it was just a friendly but i thought Sacramento were the better side and would finish between 10th and 14th if put into the BPL. I thought Aarons was MOTM. Krul’s 2 first half wonder saves, saved our blushes. I thought the Sacramento defender who scored the own goal looked to me as if he meant to score the goal, only he had forgotten we had switched ends! I def expected a penalty to be given at the end and to be honest thought Sacramento at least deserved a draw (but probably a win!)

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  30. I would like to keep Cisse but he is probably on too high a wage to do so. He is a bit of a conundrum in that he cannot play as a lone striker or lead the line, but does score when played in the middle. He is all instinct and would be ideal as a “super-sub” but I doubt Ashley will keep him for that purpose. The sale of Santon showed that an asset with diminishing value will be sold by the Fatman because I still believe he thinks bottom line first.

    Hopefully, Mitrovic will get married soon and he will learn that he doesn’t have to do that goal celebration to get what he wants.

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  31. Jill: BPL? Is that the Brisbane Premier League? 😉

    I doubt they’d cope with a full on season in the PL. Playing as if it’s the cup final against a touring team in pre-season is very different from a proper competitive match each week.

    I saw the same thing the other day with Brisbane v Liverpool, and a few weeks back when Brisbane beat Malaga 3-0. Brisbane played well both games, but I reckon they’d get relegated from the PL.

    It’s impossible to tell what’s what from a one-off game when one side has something to prove and the other just wants to get fit (or to go on holiday)

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  32. Interesting to hear all your thoughts on the game, didn’t see it, too late for me. Why are we continuing to play Obertan?, is it not clear now that he simply doesn’t cut it for us? Likewise Willo, shocking that he hasn’t been moved on by now.

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  33. NUFC H2H Fantasy league still requires 14 teams.
    Code: 298856-79420

    So far we have:

    Newbriscastle Roar – Brisvegas Brisbane
    Inter Yasista – Richie Toon
    Nik Nak Utd – Paul Sharp
    Shamrocking It – Aidan Shamrock
    Natalie Sawyer Fan – Brian Tait
    PremandUp – Brian Rolfe

    5 from last year and 1 newbie. Come on. Get it on the act. Where’s Newkie, AMF, Solarno (current champ), TDS from last year, and the guy who won the League Cup (sorry, forgotten your name) – you’ve got to defend your title.

    What about Big Dave, Troy, Stu, Lionel, Eric, Kim, MDS, Icedog, anybody. Use your great knowledge of football and join the game.

    You don’t need to pick your side straight away, just use the defaults and get entered. You can pick the team later.

    It was a jolly good season last time out.

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  34. Make that 12 teams required. Sorry, it’s an 18 team competition, but it can be extended if need be.

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  35. Same old toon…. play gash against supposed inferior opposition and get a lucky win….. nothing changed much ….

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  36. Saylor & Haidaras part in the goal showed why Williamson should be moved on, If we are going to play an attacking possession game we need our defenders to be comfy on the ball and be able to get involved further upfield.

    Not just howk it 80 yards. Gifting the opposition the ball back

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