Is there a player who mirrors his club more accurately than Aleksandar Mitrovic?
Too good for the Championship yet seemingly not quite up to the standards expected in the Premier League, the snarling Serb is certainly a fitting centre-forward for a Fulham side that appears to have replaced second-tier rivals West Brom as English football’s ‘yo-yo club’.
Should the Cottagers secure a return to the big time at the first time of asking – they are well placed to do that with a four-point buffer separating themselves and third place – their past five seasons would read like this: promotion, relegation, promotion, relegation, promotion.
And Mitrovic’s topsy-turvy goals tally embodies the relentless rise and fall of this Fulham side. He scored 26 in the Championship during the promotion-winning 2019/20 season, then three in the Premier League the year after.
With a staggering 18 goals in just 15 games so far – including a hat-trick against West Brom on Saturday – this season is almost certain to be Mitrovic’s best.
The Championship record of 31 set by Ivan Toney just a few months ago looks under serious threat too.
But, such is the nature of this feast-or-famine limbo Fulham appear to have found themselves in, few would be surprised if the Cottagers finished bottom of the 2022/23 Premier League table with Mitrovic once again flattering to deceive on the biggest stage.
Is West Ham target Aleksandar Mitrovic really a Premier League striker?
In May, The Sun reported West Ham United boss David Moyes was considering a summer swoop for Fulham’s £22 million talisman.
And if anyone could get the best out of this enigmatic striker at Premier League level, it’s a man who’s transformed Jarrod Bowen, Craig Dawson and Said Benhrama – three players snapped up from second-tier clubs – into reliable top-flight stars.
That, however, is merely hypothetical. For all his successes at the London Stadium, Moyes gave up early on Sebastien Haller – a physical, 6ft-something centre-forward in the Mitrovic mould.
In short, Mitrovic’s top-flight record fails to paint a picture of a man capable of maintaining this remarkable purple patch in the top flight, assuming Marco Silva and co are swigging champagne on the Craven Cottage pitch come May.
A mere 24 goals in 94 Premier League appearances tells its own story.
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