Arsenal’s transfer mistakes in recent years have been easy to criticise in hindsight, with the club particularly missing out on a striker in past windows.
The latest attempt saw the Gunners fail to secure a forward or two for the front line in January, leaving Mikel Arteta with very few options to pick from.
That was only felt further when Gabriel Jesus’ ACL injury was added to by a hamstring tear for Kai Havertz which will keep the two out for the rest of the season.
It has led to plenty of criticism from Arsenal supporters, not only in failing to land a striker but perhaps in selling some too.
Eddie Nketiah joined Crystal Palace for £25m last summer, while another star impressing is Mika Biereth, who was sold for just £4million to Sturm Graz.
Now, just a few months on, the latter of those two strikers is embarrassing his transfer fee and perhaps the Gunners in the process.
Ex-Arsenal striker Mika Biereth matches Neymar record for goal involvement
It’s fair to say that Mika Biereth’s rise has come at an unexpected rate since making the permanent switch to Sturm Graz last summer.
An impressive spell in Austria saw AS Monaco land the striker in January to help bolster their own ranks during the window.
The Hale End academy graduate then hit a rich run of form, scoring three hat-tricks that have put him on the radar for many.
England are said to be tracking Biereth ahead of a potential international call-up – though the star can also represent Denmark, Germany and Bosnia Herzegovina.
His run continued over the weekend for Monaco, though this time he turned provider as he set up Takumi Minamino to score in a draw against Toulouse.
While Biereth didn’t go on to score, his second assist for the French outfit saw his goal involvements hit 12 in Ligue 1 for the club.
That matches Neymar’s record of 12 goal involvements in his first eight appearances, putting him in good company.
The display itself was praised as a player of the match one for Biereth against Toulouse, with French media outlet Maxifoot raving about the performance.
A report from the outlet read: “Even without finding the back of the net, the AS Monaco striker was good… he was the decisive passer with a real caviar for Minamino, scorer in the empty net.”
That run is now leaving many questioning exactly how and why Arsenal ended up letting Biereth leave.
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Why did Mika Biereth leave Arsenal?
In hindsight, Arsenal may have been better off keeping Biereth to help him progress into the first-team to show that scoring prowess during a season of difficulty in front of goal.
However, the reality is that the move appeared to come at the right time for all parties for the future of the striker.
According to The Athletic, the exit seemed to be the conclusion of some smart loan moves to progress him into a senior player who could feature elsewhere.
It’s stated that both parties still see it as the right decision, even if the goal-scoring exploits have seen an improvement since.
It remains to be seen just how good Biereth can be, but his form has certainly made people sit up and take notice if they hadn’t before.
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