Biereth was scoring goals for Fulham at youth level when he grabbed the attention of scouts at Arsenal.
The Gunners have changed their academy recruitment in recent years, adopting a more targeted approach when signing young players, with Biereth and goalkeeper Tommy Setford, who joined from Ajax, examples of this.
The highly rated Setford may be an academy signing but the 19-year-old has been training with the first team since he arrived and made his debut in the Carabao Cup earlier this season, while Biereth was one of the early changes to the club’s recruitment at that level when he signed in 2021.
What Arsenal really liked about Biereth, who was born in London but in addition to Denmark also qualifies for England, Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina, was his personality and characteristics alongside his goal-scoring ability.
But Biereth joined when boss Mikel Arteta had established Arsenal’s possession-based style, and the pathway to the first team was tough for a young forward who describes himself as an “old-fashioned” striker.
That wasn’t to say that Biereth would never have had a chance, particularly with the recent injury crisis Arsenal have suffered, but it would have just been more difficult for him.
He went on loan to Dutch top-flight club RKC Waalwijk in 2022, scoring two goals in 13 games in a spell he says “wasn’t the most ideal”, before moving to Scotland with Motherwell the next season, where he scored six goals and supplied five assists in 11 league starts.
Another loan spell at what he calls the “next level” arrived with Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga before Biereth joined permanently last summer, scoring 14 goals in 25 games including two in the Champions League..
His goalscoring exploits since arriving at Monaco saw him make his debut for Denmark in the Nations League in March.
“I’m quite a simple striker, a bit old fashioned in terms of not too bothered about build-up play and looking pretty and appearing in too many YouTube highlights,” he explains.
“I stick to my job and try and do it as efficiently as possible, and that is score goals.
“A lot of my goals are not the prettiest ones, probably rebounds within the five-yard line and really close to the goal. That’s just how I play.”
Leave a Reply