Monaco’s new ‘old-school’ centre-forward Mika Biereth: ‘Sometimes my goals aren’t the prettiest but…’ | OneFootball

Inspired by Erling Haaland and Didier Drogba, new AS Monaco signing Mika Biereth (21) has described himself as an“old-school” striker during his presentation on Monday.

Biereth, who spent time as a youth player at Chelsea and then at Fulham, left Arsenal without having ever made a professional appearance for The Gunners. “I think that development for young players isn’t always linear. Sometimes, especially for young players, development comes in stage,” said Biereth at a press conference, attended by Get French Football News, explaining his inability to impose himself at his formative club.

He added, “While I was at Arsenal I was young, they probably didn’t think that I was ready for the opportunity. After my first loan, a difficult loan, then moving to Scotland and then to Austria, improving stage by stage in my career, taking my time with it and trying to make sensible decisions in terms of which clubs I go to best display my talents. Now, at the age of 21, I think that I have progressed a lot since the age of 19.”

After a difficult loan spell at RKC Waalwijk, Biereth succeeded at Motherwell and then at Sturm Graz. He joined the latter, initially on loan before making the move permanent in the summer. In the first half of the season, netted 14 goals in 25 appearances in all competitions, including two goals in the UEFA Champions League.

Mika Biereth – Photo credit: Luke Entwistle

His performances caught the eye of Monaco, who in Biereth, are making a long-term investment, as confirmed by CEO Thiago Scuro, who when scouring the market for a replacement for the injured Folarin Balogun, had also considered bringing a player in on loan before ultimately signing London-born foward Biereth for €13m.

Scuro praised Biereth’s drive to join Les Monégasques. “Since the first contact, we saw his mindset and his desire to come. He did a lot on his side to come here and we appreciated that. It was very important to is,” said the Principality club’s CEO.

With Breel Embolo and George Ilenikhena both struggling for goals and with Balogun, who underwent surgery on a shoulder injury in December, out until April, Biereth has been recruited to bring goals. And that is what he loves doing, by any means necessary.

“I’d describe myself as a bit of a dying breed of strikers, a little bit old-school. I understand how important the build-up is, being available for team, but at the end of the day, I’m a striker and I love scoring goals,” began the Denmark youth international, who is also eligible to feature for Bosnia & Herzegovina, Germany, and England, the country of his birth.

Biereth reunited with former Arsenal teammate Balogun

“I try to find myself in the best place to score goals. A lot of the goals that you’ll look at aren’t the prettiest, not goals that you’ll see in YouTube video highlights. But for me, it doesn’t really matter how the ball goes in the back of the net. Scoring is one of the most important things in football and I try to do it on a consistent basis. Sometimes my goals aren’t the prettiest but a goal is a goal,” he added.

At Monaco, he links back up with Balogun, with whom he played at Arsenal at youth level. “It is nice to see a familiar face. We played a few matches with the U21s together. There was a connection on the pitch. Balo and I have a frienship from before. It is nice that we are now at the same club,” said Biereth.

Monaco’s strikers playing for their future?

There is no shortage of competition now at Monaco, who have four strikers in their ranks. “It can happen,” said Scuro regarding a potential departure up front. Having trained for the first time on Monday, Biereth has been included in the squad to face Stade de Reims on Tuesday in the Coupe de France. Strikers may be playing for their futures at Monaco in the coming months and for himself and for the team, Biereth will be determined to hit the ground running.

GFFN | Luke Entwistle – reporting from Monaco