It is safe to say that unlike Chancel Mbemba and Georginio Wijnaldum, Aleksandar Mitrovic has divided opinion amongst Newcastle United fans since his arrival in the summer.
Some sections of the Magpies faithful believe there is promise lying within the youngster, whilst others are already fed up with the forward, despite his brief time in the North East.
Frustration from the fans
After signing in the summer, it’s fair to say Mitrovic raised eyebrows with his first couple of performances. Two silly bookings in his first two games brought his temperament into question and when he was sent off for a rash challenge against Arsenal in his fourth game, many believed his time at Newcastle would be short-lived and unsuccessful. He was described as lazy and likened to Mario Balotelli.
To add to this, despite an upturn in form as of late, the amount of golden chances Mitrovic seems to miss is a worry. Numerous times this season the Serbian has found himself in a position where it seems harder to miss and yet he hasn’t stuck the ball in the back of the net.
Reasons to be hopeful
There are more reasons to be cheery than gloomy, however. Despite Graham Carr’s shortcomings in recent transfer windows, he may have un-earthed a true gem in Mitrovic. He is only 21 years of age and has time on his side when it comes to putting his weaknesses behind him. Even in the past few weeks there has been signs of improvement from the youngster.
Mitrovic has five goals for the club and some have been of fantastic quality. The way he controlled and finished the half-volley against Norwich was Shearer-esque and his calmness when putting the ball past Ben Foster against West Brom shows that he can find the net when he really wants to. Let us not forget that this man scored 28 goals in 51 games last year. No matter how poor the quality may be in Belgium, it takes more than luck to score that many goals in a season.
Another big positive is the passion that Mitrovic shows. No matter whether it is a tap in or a stunner, the goal celebration that follows always seems to be one drenched in euphoria. It is likely you wouldn’t have seen Loic Remy or Saido Berahino celebrating a Newcastle goal with that degree of passion if they had signed.
In addition, that passion is starting to be channeled in the correct way. Those silly fouls and bookings are a thing of the past and since his dismissal against Arsenal, the forward hasn’t received a single card. He is now using his build and temperament in the correct way.
Also, there may be a statistic that makes fans think twice about doubting Mitrovic. It took Alan Shearer 36 games to hit four league goals back when he was the same age as Mitrovic and the Serbian has surpassed that figure in only 13 appearances. It doesn’t stop there either, as Mitrovic is currently scoring a goal every 2.4 games, in comparison to Shearer’s one goal every 3.4 games when he was 21.
Why the forward needs support
Despite Mitrovic’s goalscoring record overseas, there is still the need for a clinical finisher on Tyneside. It is yet to be seen as to whether Seydou Doumbia will be the long-term solution to end Newcastle’s long run without a proven goalscorer.
Also, as good as he is, Ayoze Perez is not an out and out striker and is best used playing off the front man. For this reason, if Mitrovic starts finding the net more often, these two could become a formidable duo upfront together, especially considering how well Mitrovic seems to hold the ball up.
That may partly be the reason Mitrovic has received so much stick from some of the Magpies faithful. All the weight of scoring big goals is being put on this young lad’s shoulders and if Mike Ashley had actually managed to buy a permanent striker in January, it may have eased the burden on the youngster.