Arsenal sold Mika Biereth to Sturm Graz when Edu was still sporting director of the Gunners (Image: GETTY)
have been slammed for during ’s final months as the Gunners’ sporting director. The north London giants sold the striker to Sturm Graz for just £4million last summer before he secured a transfer to Monaco in January.
Biereth made a big impression in Austria as he bagged 11 league goals on top of two strikes in the . And he has continued to excel since moving to , with the 22-year-old finding the back of the net 10 times in his first seven matches. Incredibly, he has already bagged three league hat-tricks for his current side, with his most recent one coming last Friday as Monaco defeated Reims 3-0.
Biereth departed just four months before Edu left his role. And the decision to move the player on has been called the “mistake of the decade” by hero Paul Parker.
“I think it was a crazy decision by to sell Mika Biereth, and they got almost no money for him,” Parker told SpilXperten.
“Of course we don’t know how he would have developed if he had stayed instead of going to Sturm Graz. But based on how he is playing at Monaco right now, it seems like the mistake of the decade not to keep him.”
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Former Arsenal striker Mika Biereth has excelled for Sturm Graz and Monaco since leaving England (Image: GETTY)
Monaco have climbed to fourth in the Ligue 1 table and will fancy their chances of qualifying for next season’s Champions League with Biereth leading the line. The team were knocked out of this season’s edition of the competition by Benfica last month after reaching the play-off round.
And Parker explained: “I’ve actually watched quite a few of Monaco’s games and I’ve also seen all his goals. He is a really good finisher and that is exactly what is lacking. Right now they have a lot of injuries, but even with a fully fit squad I believe Biereth would have been their best striker.
“They have a bunch of useless strikers and now they’ve tried using [Mikel] Merino up front. That’s a bit of an admission of failure if you ask me.”
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Biereth left north London following loan spells with Motherwell and Sturm Graz after failing to make a first team appearance for the club.
But the Gunners could one day attempt to rectify their transfer mistake, with the Dane insisting last year that he would be open to a return to the Emirates Stadium.
“If I keep playing well and scoring goals, hopefully a change can come,” he admitted. “A return back to would be fantastic, but it’s not something I’m focusing on right now.”