Aleksandar Mitrovic joined Newcastle United under much fanfare in July 2015, now three seasons later he could be on his way to West Ham in January.
Mitrovic should have been a massive hit, right? Here was a striker with physical power, decent pace and quality technique. He seemed perfectly made for the Premier League.
Yet Mitrovic has been an unmitigated disaster for Newcastle United. The Serbian has played 72 games in three seasons but has only scored 17 times. For comparison, Mohamed Salah has already scored more goals than that for Liverpool after just four and a bit months.
Something just hasn’t clicked, and now Sports Mole are reporting that Newcastle are happy to offload him to West Ham in January. That Newcastle have finally given up on him is substantial, but a move to West Ham could be exactly what he needs to find his feet again.
Obviously West Ham are something of a striker’s graveyard right now, with Javier Hernandez and Andy Carroll in particular suffering the most. But those issues are largely unique, with Carroll’s injury-prone nature preventing him from gaining any consistency, and Hernandez simply being the wrong style for the agricultural David Moyes.
But Mitrovic could fit the way Moyes wants to play football at West Ham. Firstly, the Newcastle man has the kind of physique that Moyes tends to prefer in his no. 9’s.
Secondly, he’s an aerial powerhouse. Sure, of his 137 shots on goal since joining Newcastle, less than half (52) came with his head and just 4 of his 12 goals were headers – but part of that is Newcastle’s shoddy supply.
In terms of aerial duels, Mitrovic has won a stunning 152/207 aerial duels at a rate of 73% since joining Newcastle. He’s an excellent target man and a reliable reference point in attack.
With Moyes’ love of crosses, if Mitrovic were to join he would be the reference in attack that the Hammers are crying out for. He would receive plenty of the right kind of supply from the likes of Michael Antonio and Arthur Masuaku.
Finally, he’s actually quite good on the ball. He uses it well. Since he joined Newcastle, only four players have managed to create more chances for the Magpies than Mitrovic. At West Ham, this could manifest in a tremendous strike partnership with Javier Hernandez, a supreme goal poacher whose skills would be amplified by playing off a target man.
Aleksandar Mitrovic to West Ham United makes too much sense to not happen. It would be a fabulous move that could resurrect his career, and with a World Cup coming at the end of the season that’s a great thing.
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