Newcastle have rejected an £8m bid from Brighton & Hove Albion for the Serbian striker.
Newcastle United appear to be playing hardball over Aleksandar Mitrovic after Sky Sports reported that they rejected Brighton & Hove Albion’s £8m bid for the striker.
Mitrovic has failed to start a single Premier League game this season but Sky Sports understands that Newcastle feel the Serbian is worth ‘significantly more’ than Brighton’s opening offer.
The Magpies’ valuation of Mitrovic is a little hypocritical considering that the 23-year-old hasn’t been deemed good enough to get near Rafael Benitez’s team this season.
Despite an opening-day goal off the bench, Mitrovic has made only six substitute appearances in the league and one EFL Cup start, in which he scored in defeat to Nottingham Forest.
While Mitrovic has been in part-exile, Newcastle have averaged 0.92 goals per league game and have failed to find the net in 10 of their 24 top-flight matches this season.
The forwards that Benitez has put his faith in – Joselu, Dwight Gayle and Ayoze Perez – have combined for nine goals in 66 league matches – and yet Mitrovic has not been given his chance.
If Benitez thinks so little of the ex-Anderlecht striker, then he need not fear strengthening a relegation rival should he be sold to Brighton, another obstacle to a deal according to Sky Sports.
Mitrovic, who scored nine times in his previous Premier League season, is either good enough for the Newcastle first team, or worth somewhere in the region of Brighton’s offer. He cannot be both.
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