Why Aleksander Mitrovic rejected Middlesbrough for Fulham on Deadline Day
Play-off chasing Fulham managed to hijack Middlesbrough's deal to sign Serbian international, Aleksander Mitrovic, on deadline day after the deal was agreed between Boro and Newcastle.
After Tony Pulis allowed two strikers to leave on loan during the window with Martin Braithwaite leaving for Bordeaux and youngster Ashley Fletcher signing for neighbours Sunderland, he needed to get in a replacement as soon as possible.
The replacement he had in mind was Newcastle’s Mitrovic who was high up on his wish list.
However as the time was counting down, Fulham came in and managed to persuade the Serbian thanks to manager Slavisa Jokanovic.
Early morning on Deadline Day Jokanovic tried to bring in Mitrovic however he responded with
“I wont lie to you... I am going to Anderlecht so you can bring in a different striker.”
However it didn’t happen, Mitrovic flew to Belgium but the deal between Newcastle and Mitrovic's former club Anderlecht soon collapsed.
With a few hours to go and with Anderlecht telling Newcastle they cannot go through with the deal due to a proposed out going transfer not being completed.
So the Serbian returned to England at about 10pm and then found out Middlesbrough and Newcastle agreed a loan deal and they were waiting on him to say yes.
Then while Mitrovic was waiting around to see what was happening he got a Snapchat which would later disappoint Boro boss Tony Pulis.
It was Fulham’s manager Jokanovic again after hearing the move to Anderlecht collapsed and Mitrovic response was,
“Its your lucky day” Said Mitrovic.
So that meant Boro missed out on their striker and Mitrovic headed down to London and signed for Fulham and was their second signing of the day as Boro’s Cyrus Christie also joined the Cottagers but on a permanent basis.
After signing for Fulham Mitrovic gave his reason why he picked the Cottagers and not Boro.
“I chose Fulham because of the style, because of the coach.
“Fulham play the best football in the League.
“There was so much pressure. I was so nervous but in the end it finished right for me.
“Slavisa has told me not to do a stupid thing. He says I have to put my passion into scoring goals, not to do some crazy tackles. I understand this and agree with him.”
Mitrovic pulled on the Fulham shirt for the first time last weekend as he was introduced as a second half substitution when they beat Aitor Karanka’s Nottingham Forest’s 2-0.
Credit to HITC and The Mag for the imagery used in this article.