Aleksandar Mitrović spent five years at Fulham and left them for Al-Hilal in August 2023.
The Serbian striker was a standout player for Fulham, scoring 111 goals and registering 21 assists from 211 games. Mitrović played his last two seasons at the London club under Marco Silva’s orders.
Silva has been speaking to the Portuguese media to discuss Viktor Gyökeres’ move to Arsenal and O Jogo have relayed his comments.
The manager came up against the Sweden international in the Championship tie against Coventry City in October 2022. Fulham may have tried to replace Mitrović with Gyökeres in 2023 and Silva had held talks with the latter’s agent.
The Premier League club weren’t successful as he left Coventry City for Sporting in the summer of 2023. The frontman starred for the Lions, and this helped seal a big move to Arsenal earlier this month.
The Fulham boss dismisses suggestions that the new Gunners signing wasn’t noticed a lot before he moved to Sporting.
“This story that no one had noticed Gyökeres [before Sporting] and things like that is all talk. The top clubs in England didn’t notice. It’s not easy for a player to go from Coventry to the top clubs in England. And, at that time, he wasn’t a player ready for that leap,” he said.
“Now, the mid-table clubs in England had all noticed. So much so that there were some offers. I even spoke with Gyökeres’ agent, but we also had a world-class striker, Mitrović, who was very difficult to replace.”
“Naturally, we noticed him; he was a player who clearly had tremendous physical strength and some good finishing ability; he improved that a lot.”
“The way Coventry played at the time, with space, he was a player who made a difference. And, when he played against Fulham, we usually had 60 or 70% possession and that was the ideal game for him.”
The 27-year-old Swede scored 97 goals and registered 28 assists from 107 games for Sporting. The Fulham manager remains confident he’ll have an impact at Arsenal but isn’t certain whether he’ll be able to replicate his Sporting form at the Emirates.
“I think he’ll fit into a phase of play that Arsenal also has. Perhaps, of all the teams competing for the title, they have the most solid defensive form. When they don’t have the ball, if it’s a little lower, it’s not a big concern,” Silva explained.
“And then they’ll have plenty of space to exploit. They have very strong midfielders and wingers, so he’ll fit in very well. In a positional attack, when Arsenal is clearly in their highest space. He’ll have an impact; whether he’ll have the same impact as Portugal, we’ll have to see how he adapts.”
