Aleksandar Mitrovic is the talk of the town after his goal-laden start to the season.
The Fulham striker followed up Saturday’s effort in the defeat by Arsenal with another in the victory over Brighton on Tuesday. Those goals made it five in five in the Premier League — meaning he is finally starting to silence the critics who said the big Serb, always so prolific in the Championship, couldn’t do it in the top flight.
And as team-mate Bernd Leno revealed, not only are his goals causing a stir among Premier League defences but he’s proving a proper handful with his all-round performances, too.
The former Arsenal keeper said: “He’s full of confidence and full of quality, the way he plays and keeps the ball, and the way he scores goals is exceptional. He’s so important for us — probably the most important player for us — so we’re really happy to have him here. I spoke to the Arsenal guys a couple of days ago and they said, ‘He so tough to play against’. I can’t imagine. We’re so happy to have him.”
Leno is still getting to know Mitrovic having only been at Fulham a month. But Harrison Reed has spent three years alongside him at Craven Cottage and knows exactly what he is capable of. He added: “It’s amazing. To see the effort he is putting in on the pitch, numerous times against Brighton I looked up and he was in the right-back position. Buying a foul, driving us up in the pitch… In the first half he picked the ball up on the edge of the area and ended up getting a shot off. Brilliant.
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“He is putting in the work, reaping the rewards and scoring goals. That’s what his job is. I know exactly what he can do. Obviously it’s a different league but he does it in the Championship every time he is there and there’s always that question of, ‘Can he do it in the Premier League?’
"Us as his team-mates see him day in, day out, we see the work he puts in and know how good he is so it’s not surprising for us. But if he’s surprising other people long may that continue because he is doing really, really well. He works hard every day, he’s always looking after himself and he’s reaping the rewards.”
Two seasons ago, Fulham picked up just one point in their first five Premier League games and ended up suffering relegation, but after winning promotion again, this time out they’ve kicked off with two wins and two draws. Asked if it was too simplistic just to say they were running more this time, Reed said: “There’s maybe a little bit of that in there. We’re a lot more aggressive, a lot more front foot, and we’re really believing. Obviously it helps with the good start, confidence is there going into every game and long may that continue.”
