Former Gunner believes he could have helped Arsenal score more | OneFootball

Mika Biereth believes he could have kept Arsenal in the title race for longer if he’d stayed at the club this season, but he doesn’t want to obsess over those hypotheticals.

Photo via ASMonaco.com

Former Arsenal academy striker Mika Biereth had a big decision to make last summer, after an impressive loan spell with Sturm Graz.

The centre-forward was still contracted to Arsenal, but Sturm wanted to bring him in on a permanent deal. Biereth had the choice of either pushing to try and make it back into Mikel Arteta’s starting lineup, or moving to a club where he knew he’d get games.

Opting for the latter, Biereth made a permanent move back to Austria, but just a few months later he was bought by AS Monaco.

Photo via ASMonaco.com

It’s been another strong campaign for the 22-year-old. After scoring 14 goals and assisting five with Sturm Graz in the first half of 2024/25, he’s gone on to score 13 and assist three in the second half with Monaco.

Yet perhaps that raises the question of whether he already had the capacity to break into Arsenal’s first team, particularly in light of all the injuries Arteta has had at centre-forward.

When asked whether he could have helped Arsenal with their trophy hunt this season, Biereth suggested that’s not a crazy idea.

“Yeah, I think not only am I thinking that – maybe a few other people are thinking that,” Biereth said. “I think that is just how football works.”

Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images

“When I was there, I was not really getting a feeling that there was an opportunity for me,” Biereth added. “I didn’t want to wait around and hope for something lucky. I’d rather go out and prove myself and I think I have done that to a certain extent so far.

“Football is a weird sport, you can always think ‘what if I didn’t do this or what if I didn’t do that?’

“The way I think about stuff is that I can’t keep thinking about ‘what if I stayed?’ I’m really happy here at Monaco and playing really well and we have just secured Champions League football for next season.”