When Fulham decided to buy Kostas Mitroglou from Olympiakos back in January 2014 for over £13m, they thought they were getting a very good target man, and, on paper, they technically were.
Prior to the knee injury that completely messed up his time at Craven Cottage, one he suffered before his transfer there, the Greek forward had scored 14 goals in 10 league games for the Super League side, and there was some excitement.
Three appearances (one start) later, however, it was clear it just wasn’t going to work out, and the now 30-year-old was swiftly shipped back to Greece and then Benfica on loan after Fulham got relegated.
Eventually sold to Benfica for less than half his original price in 2016, Mitroglou is now at Marseille in France, where he has, once again, struggled to have the impact desired from a £13.5m recruit.
Scoring just five league goals in 14 appearances is below the requirements expected from the club’s main striker, and, while there have been signs of improvement, there are still plenty of question marks surrounding his long-term future at the club.
Speaking to L’Equipe on Wednesday ahead of his side’s return Europa League leg against RB Leipzig, the former Fulham forward was asked what his thoughts about Ligue 1 were.
He said: “It’s the best league in which I’ve played. I only played six months in England (with Fulham), the team was relegated and I was injured. It doesn’t count. But compared to Portugal and Greece, it’s the best. It’s very physical, with very powerful players and some world class ones”.
Considering he made just three appearances, his thoughts on his time at Fulham are perhaps understandable, even if he could have gone about it in a different way.
