Arsenal’s plan up top is clear: make Viktor Gyökeres the reference point and let the team learn his chaos-runs. Patience is fine. But there’s a nagging what-if gaining volume: the club quietly moved on a home-grown No.9 who profiles like a penalty-box bully, left for £4m, and has since exploded in value by ~464%. Say hello (again) to Mika Biereth.
How we got here with Biereth
Biereth arrived from Fulham in 2021, torched PL2, then went the loan-ladder route: RKC Waalwijk → Motherwell (6 in 14) → Sturm Graz (23 in 47; domestic double; European goals) before a permanent £4m switch to Austria and, swiftly, a €15m (~£13m) jump to Monaco, where he bagged 13 goals in 16 Ligue 1 games last season, including multiple hat-tricks. The profile is unapologetically striker: direct movements, first-time finishes, box volume. Sound familiar?
Biereth snapshot
- Sold by Arsenal: ~£4m (plus sell-on; later yielded ~£1m).
- Monaco move: ~£13m; current estimated value: ~£23m (≈ +464% on Arsenal sale).
- Recent league return: 13 goals in 16 (Ligue 1, 24/25).
- Calling card: Haaland-lite mentality — lives in the box, shoots early, minimal frills.
Gyökeres is fine but the adaptation is real
Gyökeres has 3 goals in 9 Arsenal appearances so far, with xG ~3.94 and a handful of big-chance misses. He’s not a creator (yet), he’s a finisher and a gravity piece. The team is recalibrating to his channel darts; he’s recalibrating to Arsenal’s more controlled patterns. That’s normal. But it underlines the alternative timeline: a lower-touch finisher already “Premier League shaped,” on the books, pushing from below at a fraction of the fee.
9 apps | 3 goals | xG ~3.9 | 27 touches/90 | 26% in box
16 apps | 13 goals | 3 hat-tricks | ~1 goal/110–130 mins
Did Arsenal misread the internal option?
Context matters. Arsenal cashed in with a sell-on, opened pathways for elite-profile signings, and backed a striker with historic output at Sporting. Also true: Biereth’s value curve is exactly what this recruitment era loves: age, output, re-sale. For a club laser-focused on asset protection, £4m feels light in hindsight.
Author Opinion
No one is binning the Gyökeres bet; his ceiling inside this system remains massive. But Biereth is the lesson: when Hale End (and the U21 pipeline) throws a box predator who fits your chance map, you think twice. Arsenal extracted some value; they could have extracted more — on the pitch or in the market.
Title chases are won by margins: an extra finisher, a hotter bench option, a different profile off 65’. Gyökeres will get his rhythm. Meanwhile, Biereth’s rise is a timely reminder: sometimes the cheapest goals are the ones you already own.
