“Everybody loves our Gunner” is how Monaco responded to Mika Biereth scoring a first-half hat-trick against Reims on Friday night.
The former Arsenal striker completed his treble six minutes into the second half, the third time he scored three goals during the same game in February alone. Biereth now has ten in as many matches since signing from Strum Graz during the winter transfer window.
A London-born Denmark under-21 international, the centre-forward has scored as many goals as the Gunners have managed in the Premier League since last month’s move. Arsenal reportedly received around £4million for the player barely six months ago. However, Monaco paid more than double that during January, and the fee already looks like a bargain six weeks later.
Biereth is the top scorer in Europe’s top five leagues this calendar year and has matched a 70-year-old record in France for scoring three hat-tricks in his first seven league games. Notably, the striker is only one goal behind the total Folarin Balogun has managed in 24 matches for Monaco.
football.london says: Hindsight is always 20/20, but Biereth would, at the very least, be in the Arsenal squad right now if the player had remained at the club this summer. Aside from whether he would be playing, the price they cashed in at was seemingly way too low, in contrast to Balogun.
Torres to Arsenal?
Mikel Arteta reportedly believes Ferran Torres would be the ideal piece to add to the Arsenal attack. According to Fichajes, the Gunners and Tottenham Hotspur are fighting to sign the former Manchester City forward.
football.london says: Arteta worked with the Spain international at Man City, so he will know better than most how Ferran Torres could fit back in the Premier League. However, the players Arteta has signed after working with previously – Gabriel Jesus, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Raheem Sterling – have hardly been tremendous success stories in north London, so much so they could all conceivably move on this summer.
