Club chief confirms Arsenal's transfer stance on striker compared to Erling Haaland
Arsenal are reportedly open to offloading promising forward Mika Biereth during the upcoming transfer window.
Sturm Graz's director has expressed interest in signing the young talent, who previously compared himself to football heavyweights Erling Haaland and Harry Kane, on a full-time basis.
Despite Arsenal's ongoing search for a prolific striker, with attempts to bring in players like Kai Havertz and Gabriel Jesus falling short of expectations in their quest to outdo Manchester City, Biereth hasn't managed to make his mark on Mikel Arteta's squad. His time at Arsenal has been marked by loan spells aimed at gaining valuable playing experience, rather than breaking into the first team.
Last season saw Biereth play a solid part in Sturm Graz's successful campaign, clinching both the Austrian Bundesliga title and Cup. However, as he enters the final year of his contract with Arsenal, it appears the club is prepared to let him go, reports the Mirror.
Andreas Shicker, the director at Sturm Graz, confirmed the situation in an interview with Kronen Zeitung: "Mika is in the last year of his contract, and the club wants to sell him, so we now need to find a solution with Arsenal".
The Danish youth international has shown interest in a permanent move and has not shied away from likening his abilities to those of Haaland and Kane.
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In an interview with i News, he compared himself to other players: "I've said before if I can compare myself to another player I'd say hybrid of them (Haaland and Kane), at a much worse level! Like Haaland, all I really care about is scoring goals. If you'd offer me two touches of the ball and two goals I'd have that. For me, it's all about scoring goals."
He further explained his approach to the game: "There are different aspects of the game when scoring goals isn't possible when the ball is deep so then it's about combining, linking the play, holding the ball up like Kane does. Those are the two different variables on the pitch."
On the topic of settling down, he expressed: "It gets a bit boring after a while, trying to find a home. I like the idea of settling down somewhere and not having to think about all the extra stuff of different houses, different places and different cars and all of that."
While there are still negotiations to be done with the north London club, it seems likely that Biereth will be leaving Mikel Arteta's squad this summer - with a potential return to Austria being considered.