Arsenal Under-21 striker Mika Biereth could be set for a permanent exit thanks to his impressive loan spell at Austrian side Sturm Graz, according to The Standard.
Biereth has racked up eight goals and one assist in his 11 matches for Sturm Graz this term, helping his side to second in the Bundesliga standings behind RB Salzburg.
Biereth is approaching the final year of his current Arsenal contract and has admitted that playing regular football is his main target at the moment, whether at Arsenal or not.
“I’m on loan so all I can do is score as many goals and play as well as I can so that when I come back in the summer hopefully I can get an opportunity,” Biereth said via i news.
“My biggest priority is I need to be playing first-team football. I’m not overly keen on sitting on benches and just watching. I want it to be like the six months I had at Motherwell and the start here: playing games and scoring goals.
“If there is a high level I can do to where I’ll just be watching I’d rather drop down a level so I can play games. That whole process will just be me finding out where that best place is.”
The 21-year-old, who represents Denmark at youth international level, is yet to make a senior appearance for Arsenal. However, his loan spell at Sturm Graz has certainly put him on the radar of Gunners manager Mikel Arteta.
Currently on his third loan stint in the last two years following previous spells at RKC Waalwijk and Motherwell, Biereth could finally see his time in North London end this summer amid interest from several clubs.
Arsenal could be open to allowing Biereth to continue his development in a first-team environment like Sturm Graz where he’s currently flourishing.
However, a permanent transfer is also an exciting prospect as it would see the Premier League club recoup a decent fee to help fund purchases of their own.
Arsenal remain in the market for a new centre-forward this summer and have been linked with Brentford’s Ivan Toney and Sporting Lisbon’s Viktor Gyokeres.
