Newcastle United-owned Aleksandar Mitrovic is killing it at Fulham.
Former Newcastle United boss Steve McClaren has suggested to The Chronicle that in-form Aleksandar Mitrovic is getting the love and belief from Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic that he lacked under Rafael Benitez in the North East.
The 23-year-old looks a man reborn since joining the Championship side on loan from Newcastle in January, netting seven goals in nine games under his fellow Serbian.
With Islam Slimani yet to make his Magpies debut after joining on loan from Leicester City, Mitrovic’s form has raised questions over whether Benitez was right to let him go.
Mitrovic only managed six Premier League games under the Spaniard during the first half of the campaign – all from the bench – and McClaren, who paid £13 million to bring him in from Anderlecht in 2015, has suggested to The Chronicle that Benitez needed to throw an arm around him.
“He came in as a young boy at Newcastle, he needs to be loved, needs to be believed in, trusted.
“I think Jokanovic, being Serbian, I think they’ve got that connection and once you get the best out of him, he’s not only a good player outside the box, bringing other players into it, he scores goals.”
The writing has been on the wall for Mitrovic since August, when the Football Association slapped him with a three-match retrospective ban for an elbow on Manuel Lanzini in a 3-0 win over West Ham.
Mitrovic also bagged his solitary Premier League goal in that game – his first league appearance of the season – and the former Liverpool boss appeared to wash his hands of him after that, giving the Serbia international barely over an hour of football since.
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