Aleksandar Mitrovic has been banging in goals at Fulham for fun since joining the Cottagers on loan in the January transfer window.
The 23-year-old has scored five goals in his last four games for Fulham, but the Serbian probably doesn’t feature in Benitez’s long term plans.
Mitrovic claimed in the midweek that Fulham play “attacking football” which suits his style, while the Magpies were more tactical for him.
Benitez has said that he is happy that Mitrovic has rediscovered his goal scoring form and that it will benefit both the player and the club in the summer.
The former Liverpool manager seemingly aimed a dig at Mitrovic by not mentioning his contribution to the Magpies’ promotion winning campaign last season.
“Our style of football was very offensive and we had one key player – and that was Dwight Gayle,” said Benitez, as quoted by the Chronicle.
“He scored 23 goals even when he was two months without playing. Even Daryl Murphy scored six goals.
“As I’ve said before, I hope he scores 20 goals. That will be much better for him and for us. But it’s a question (about his future) that we have to ask in May.
Mitrovic scored just four goals last season, and the above comments suggest that his future could lie away from St James’ Park in the summer.
If Mitrovic continues to perform well and score goals it will help Newcastle recoup a higher fee for the forward in the summer. Also, Fulham could be tempted to sign him permanently – a deal that would make sense for all parties involved.
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