Newcastle’s clash with Aston Villa is not the only link between the clubs in today’s headlines, with Darren Bent tipping the Midlands side to move for Aleksandar Mitrovic in January.
Mitrovic made 72 appearances for Newcastle, but scored just 17 goals during his time on Tyneside, with Rafa Benitez often not trusting the Serbian enough to give him a run in the starting lineup.
He moved to Fulham, and has scored 35 goals for the London side. ‘Mitro’ surprised many when he opted to stay at Craven Cottage following the club’s relegation to the Championship.
He has been scoring for fun in the second tier so far, grabbing 12 goals from 17 games this season, which sees Fulham sit fourth in the Championship table, just five points off an automatic promotion place.
His current form has seen Bent suggest a club like Villa should take a chance on the former Toon man, and bring him back to the Premier League.
Fulham may not sell Mitrovic in January
Of course, whether or not Fulham would be willing sellers, would remain to be seen, as they will fancy their chances of securing automatic promotion back to the Premier League themselves, this season.
They would have a dilemma, if a sizeable bid is made, as he is undoubtedly one of their most valuable assets.
They could sell him, and bring in some big money to ease any financial burden placed on them, after dropping out of the top division, while being able to invest in strengthening their squad.
But on the flip-side, without him, they may not be in a position to sustain a realistic promotion push.
As prolific as he is in the Championship, there are still questions over his ability in the Premier League, and he was summed up quite succinctly by one Villa fan who tweeted: “He’s what I call a tweener. Too good for the championship, not good enough for the prem.”
If Villa do decide to move for Mitrovic, judging from the intial Twitter comments, it would divide their fans, who offered mixed reactions to the suggestion, ahead of the Newcastle game tonight.
Here are some of their comments:
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