Aston Villa ‘linked with a move’ for former Arsenal striker who’s an exciting prospect in need of a home

Aston Villa have been credited with an interest in former Arsenal striker Mika Biereth, who has been scoring for fun since signing for Monaco.

Villa have been more frequently linked with selling a striker in the summer transfer window than buying one, but it’s obvious that neither Marcus Rashford nor Jhon Durán have been replaced and an understudy for Ollie Watkins is needed.

Manchester United’s reported fixation on Watkins cannot be allowed to lead to a transfer for any fee, in my opinion, and Villa’s hunt for a striker would in that case remain focused on a player who would start below the club’s record Premier League goalscorer in the pecking order and offer an alternative option.

It has been reported that one of the targets being considered in the striker position is Mika Biereth, a 22-year-old Danish international who was born in London and played at youth level for Fulham and Arsenal but has been constantly on the move since 2021.

Biereth made his senior international debut this year and it’s no great surprise to hear his name being linked with a move to the Premier League.

He spent the first half of 2023/24 on loan at Motherwell and demonstrated a razor-sharp eye for goal in the Scottish Premiership, scoring six times in 15 league games and making tricky finishes look easy during his time with the North Lanarkshire club.

Biereth is a finisher first and foremost and he’s a grafter rather than a technician. His work off the ball in the final third is the only real area in which he shares similarities with Watkins. In most other regards, what he’d bring to Villa’s front line would be variety.

One more move for Mika Biereth?

The 22-year-old is almost certain to move on from Monaco at some point in the next year and he’d benefit from choosing that transfer carefully whether it happens this summer, next summer, or in the January in between.

He’s flourished quickly in Ligue 1 but Biereth hasn’t yet been able to show what he can do with any kind of stability at the professional level.

Motherwell was the second of three loan clubs who took the young striker on between 2022 and 2024. He played for RKC Waalwijk of the Netherlands before the Steelmen and Austrian Bundesliga outfit Sturm Graz afterwards, ultimately winning the league earning a move to Sturm – without ever making an Arsenal appearance – last summer.

He wasn’t there for long. After 23 goals in 47 appearances, Monaco splashed the cash to sign him in January.

Another move just a few months after the last seems, at face value, like the last thing a player would need. A sense of home can go a long way in the form of a footballer and being punted around all over Europe isn’t the way to find it.

But if Biereth keeps scoring at his recent rate, a move is inevitable anyway. Villa could be just the fit he’d be looking for.

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