Monaco's Biereth backing up bold words with buckets of goals

PARIS (AP) — When Mika Biereth joined Monaco during the winter transfer window he boldly described himself as resembling Erling Haaland in his style of play.

Considering he arrived from Sturm Graz in the modest Austrian league, it sounded far-fetched to compare himself with Haaland, who has been prolific for Manchester City and Norway.

But Biereth clearly backed his ability, and he is raising eyebrows for his foresight.

The 22-year-old striker has netted 10 times in just seven Ligue 1 games for Monaco, including three straight hat tricks at home and only one penalty in that total. Including goals for Sturm Graz, he has 24 in 35 games this season.

Monaco paid 13 million euros ($13.5 million) with a further two million ($2.1 million) in bonuses, which in soccer transfer terms appears a bargain for such a natural finisher.

Although Biereth is not exceptionally quick, he combines powerful running with excellent movement and positional sense. His shooting is extremely precise and, in a similar way to Haaland, he has little hesitation when he shoots.

Biereth’s ratio compares favorably against the best forwards to have played in Ligue 1.

He reached 10 goals in Ligue 1 faster than Zlatan Ibrahimovic — who took nine matches — and Neymar — who needed 13 — after they both joined Paris Saint-Germain.

Biereth will look to keep climbing up the scoring charts when Monaco travel to Toulouse on Friday. But looking further ahead, Biereth needs to decide which country to play for.

Most national teams would like a clinical finisher like Biereth, but the question for him is who to represent.

“I’m in a unique situation. Few players can represent four countries,” he said after last Friday’s hat trick against Reims. “My mother was born and grew up in Bosnia, my father is half-Danish, half-German, and I lived in England.”

He has played for Denmark at under-19 and under-21 level — captaining them last October — but has not played for the Danes at senior level.