Mika Biereth left Arsenal and sealed a permanent transfer to Sturm Graz in the summer window.
The Gunners initially signed the striker for their academy from Fulham in 2021. He was sent out on loan to RKC Waalwijk, Motherwell and Sturm Graz in the past two seasons.
Biereth starred for the Austrian club in the second half of last season, managing nine goals and four assists from 22 games. This convinced them to buy the 21-year-old from Arsenal in July.
Tipsbladet state the Denmark U21 international decided to leave the Premier League side because it was ‘time to move on’. They even had a chat with the attacker to know his thoughts about leaving Arsenal for Sturm Graz.
“When you’re at the club, you’re in your Arsenal bubble and then you come out of it and you learn how hard it is in the real football world as a professional footballer,” he said.
“When you’re 18-19 years old, you only wanted to be at Arsenal and you had to be in the first team, and if you weren’t, you would be a failure.
“As you get older, you realise how difficult it is to get into the first team at Arsenal. You think about what you could do next and my next step was to go to Sturm Graz.
“It’s very exciting to be playing Champions League football, so I’m not that disappointed to be leaving Arsenal. Of course, it’s a sad feeling when you leave one of the biggest clubs in the world. However, it’s best for my career.”
The frontman has scored four goals and registered an assist from seven games for Sturm Graz this season.
Biereth insists he would have been pleased if Mikel Arteta had handed him an opportunity with Arsenal’s senior team. The Dane revealed this when asked if he had hoped for more at the north London club.
“Everyone hopes for more, and it would have been great to make a debut and some opportunities in the first team,” Biereth explained.
“It just didn’t work out, and I didn’t want to be there anymore and feel sorry for myself. It was the perfect time in my career to take the next step.”
