Ninety-six goals and three promotions in four-and-a-half seasons have made Aleksandar Mitrovic a cult hero at Fulham.
The last two seasons could not have been more different for Aleksandar Mitrovic.
In 2020-21, the Fulham and Serbia striker suffered miserable losses for club and country.
In the Premier League he only started a third of the Cottagers’ games when they were relegated, while it was his missed penalty in a penalty shoot-out against Scotland that meant his country failed to qualify for Euro 2020.
But the past 12 months have offered redemption for the 27-year-old.
He broke the Championship goalscoring record, netting 43 goals in 44 games, helping Fulham to promotion for the third time since joining in January 2018.
And it was his added strike in November against Portugal – his eighth of the qualifying campaign – that sent Serbia through to this winter’s World Cup and left a heartbroken Cristiano Ronaldo needing a play-off to reach Qatar.
However, despite a remarkable 12 months, questions remain over Mitrovic’s ability to cut it at the highest level.
Has he really failed in the Premier League?
All three of Mitrovic’s full seasons in the Premier League, two with Fulham and one with Newcastle, have ended in relegation.
He scored nine times in 34 league appearances in 2015-16 as a 20-year-old at St James’ Park following a £13m move from Anderlecht.
His first top-flight season with Fulham began with Slavisa Jokanovic in charge and ended with Scott Parker, through a joyless spell under Claudio Ranieri.
Mitrovic was a key part of the team that season, starting 37 league games and scoring 11 goals. That’s one goal less than Manchester United’s Romelu Lukaku, Liverpool’s Roberto Firmino and Tottenham’s Son Heung-min, and one more than United’s Marcus Rashford and Crystal Palace’s Wilfried Zaha.
So it could hardly be considered a complete failure.
After his goals once again helped Fulham to promotion in 2019-20, his final Premier League campaign was miserable, starting just 13 times and scoring three goals as he fell out of favor under Parker.
“Even though he hasn’t really done it for us in the Premier League, he doesn’t take responsibility for the bad seasons there,” explains Fulham goalscorer Gordon Davies.
“The players around him, the tactics and the team play were not good enough to see the best of Mitrovic. But now with Marco Silva, we have more attacking players with better quality. So I expect a much improved Fulham this season coming in. Then I’m sure we’ll see a much-improved Mitrovic at Premier League level as well.
“In the Premier League he was never in a top 10 team. He was always fighting for relegation. That means two things: that you don’t score many goals, and that you are always defending.
“Parker didn’t have a very expansive game and Aleksandar was sometimes alone up front, with two or three markers. You could put three defenders around Cristiano Ronaldo and he wouldn’t score as many. It was exactly the same with Mitrovic.
“Under Parker you could tell he wasn’t enjoying himself. Under Silva, you could tell the difference by the smile on his face.”
Mitrovic’s style has also evolved dramatically under Silva. He used to be more of a target man, now he drops more to link play, similar to Harry Kane at Tottenham.
Silva gave him that freedom and it is that relationship that ensured Mitrovic stayed at Craven Cottage, having been close to leaving last summer as his relationship with former boss Parker soured .
“When it came, it stayed in the middle of the park and it took a while to crush,” added Davies. “He’s got confidence now, he’s looking fitter, he’s lost weight and he’s a versatile athlete. He puts defenders under pressure and I love his attitude. If he scores 43 goals he’ll be 44.”
“It’s like a sponge”
Vuk Rasovic was one of the first people to spot Mitrovic’s potential when the young striker was in FK Partizan’s youth system.
Rasovic worked at the Belgrade club as an assistant and in 2011 took over as head coach at Teleoptik, Partizan’s feeder club in the second division.
He decided to take Mitrovic, even though the striker was only 16 years old and had no experience in senior football.
“He was a young guy, ambitious, determined to succeed,” Rasovic recalled. “As soon as I spoke to him, I couldn’t help but notice the incredible energy. He was an unfinished product, but his body was perfect, just what modern football requires. Even at 17 he was able to hold the ball.The potential was evident and he would soon become completely dominant in the penalty area.
“Keep in mind that we played in a very tough division for a young man. The Serbian second division was full of experienced players. Fighting with them, he showed a glimpse of great things to come. He rose through that level very quickly and within a year. I was playing for Partizan, scoring important goals.”
Rasovic considers Mitrovic’s ability to listen and learn to be one of his greatest assets.
“He was like a sponge, he would never forget anything,” added the coach. “He would learn so quickly and take any kind of advice. He was amazing. We went over some details in training just once and when it came time for the game he would implement it on the pitch and then continue to do it. It was fascinating to watch his energy, their desire, combined with their talent and knowledge.”
That’s why Mitrovic received a professional contract after one year at Teleoptik and immediately broke into Partizan’s starting eleven. He became a young star of the team and was sold to Anderlecht in August 2013. He scored 16 league goals as they won the Belgian title.
Left-back Olivier Deschacht was his team-mate at the time: “We had a difficult start to the season, but then we bought Mitrovic. He was very important from the first second. We played a very dominant game with a lot of crosses. He could play tall and put the ball in. Now when I see him, he’s become complete. He can do everything.”
Mitrovic was 18 at the time, so he wasn’t exactly a leader in the dressing room and remains a quieter figure than people might imagine given his fiery demeanor on the pitch.
“He’s a quiet guy,” Deschacht said. “He likes to joke around and he’s very funny but he’s not the strongest. He listens to the coaches and does his homework. I remember him changing his hair every month. Just look up some pictures… he had different styles. Also when He scored , he liked to do some special celebrations. He liked to provoke in that way, but he played well and scored, so he could afford it and everyone accepted it.”
“No one knows how far he can go”
The most important of Mitrovic’s 46 international goals came when he scored late in qualifying to send Serbia to the World Cup at the expense of Portugal.
Despite being prolific for his clubs – his form at Anderlecht earned him a move to Newcastle in 2015 – Mitrovic has not always found it easy at international level.
In 2013, he helped Serbia win the European Under-19 Championship and was named player of the tournament.
But in the senior team, his goalscoring record wasn’t great early on, with just two goals in his first 20 appearances.
Since then, however, he has added 44 in 53 games and is the record goalscorer for his country. It was his six goals in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers that really won the fans over.
Now he is a national hero.
“There are actually no fans in Serbia, only Red Star and Partizan fans,” said Vladimir Novakovic, a Serbian soccer journalist. “They tend to be very hostile to opposing players and you have to work really hard to turn them around. That ‘Mitro’ has done it is nothing short of a miracle.”
Rasovic is confident that Mitrovic has not yet reached his limit.
“We’re still in touch,” his former coach said. “I know his daily routines and how he prepares for each game. I notice that he is never satisfied with his current level, he always wants more.
“When we talk, I often tell him, ‘Don’t stop, keep going, nobody knows how far you can go. You’ve achieved a lot, but you’re still young, and you can do more.’
He added: “I deeply hope that he will do something big and beautiful in Qatar. I hope that he will help Serbia become one of the top scorers in the World Cup.”
The next big step is to prove the Premier League doubters wrong.
“If he finishes with 12-15 goals, it will be a good season for Mitrovic,” said Davies.