Mika Biereth is impressing at AS Monaco this season but not too long ago, he was on the books of Fulham and then Arsenal.
He joined the Gunners after coming through the Craven Cottage club’s youth academy.
After Arsenal, he joined Sturm Graz, and then in the recent winter transfer window, he moved to Monaco.
He has 10 Ligue 1 goals in eight games so far this season and some insight into his rise has been provided by Danish outlet Bold today.
They reveal that when Biereth was impressing at Fulham, it was scout John ‘Faxe’ Jensen and Per Mertesacker who discovered him for Arsenal.
The ex-Germany defender spoke to Bold about how he came across the striker, and said: “We had seen him at Fulham, where he scored a lot of goals, and we saw qualities that could potentially make him a success for himself and for Arsenal.”
Speaking further, he praised the forward’s mindset: “What always stood out for us with Mika was his personality, and that, I think, is a big factor in the success he is enjoying right now.”
Mertesacker also revealed that it was all about giving Biereth the right platform to grow at Arsenal.
“We knew that if we gave him the best platform in terms of the clubs he came to and the environments we put him in here and in other clubs, he would continue to develop well in the game, and he has done so.”
The hard work put in by the two London clubs is surely paying off now for a player Bold label ‘special’.
The 22-year-old scored 11 times in 16 Austrian Bundesliga games for Sturm Graz in the first half of this season.
At one point, he had scored 21 times in 21 games for Fulham’s U18s side too and also went on to have a solid goalscoring tally for Arsenal U21s.
Because of that, the two London clubs should proud of what they did to turn Biereth into a reliable striker.