At Arsenal since his move from Fulham in 2021, Mika Biereth has yet to make an appearance for the Gunners’ first-team despite being the same age as Manchester United star Rasmus Højlund.
He proved himself at U23 level for the Emirates residents, scoring 12 goals in 26 games, and has since enjoyed a few loan spells, first at RKC Waalwijk before heading to Motherwell FC earlier this season.
The young Dane was then recalled by Arsenal, who sent him to Sturm Graz in Austria, where he has excelled since his arrival, earning himself a call up to the Denmark U21 side, which their manager Steffen Højer explained to Bold.
Referring to the 21-year-old as someone who is ‘extremely lethal’ in the box, the five goals in his first nine games for the Austrian side were ‘hard to avoid’, which is why Biereth has ‘thoroughly deserved’ his place in the squad.
However, the conversation quickly turned to Denmark and Manchester United star Rasmus Højlund, who also first made a real name for himself in mainland Europe by playing well at Sturm Graz.
The comparison is hard not to make, as the former Atalanta starlet scored 12 goals in 21 games for the Austrian club before Atalanta came in and spent €20m six months after his arrival to take him away from there.
Then came the big move to Manchester United a year later for €75m or so, which is a growth that Arsenal’s Biereth can look up to and strive to match by one day making it into Mikel Arteta’s plans, although Højer refuses to compare the two.
He said: “I think it’s always dangerous to compare with someone who has just been sold for half a billion (DKK). We’re at the point where we have to let Mika do his job. I think he does that really, really well. He’s not quite the same type as Rasmus, but what they have in common is that they really like to score goals.”
