Aleksandar Mitrović

Aleksandar Mitrović is a striker who is currently playing for Fulham. A tenacious target man and a natural goalscorer, he is Serbia's record goalscorer. Initially signed as a last-minute loan deal in January 2018 from Newcastle United, he played a huge part in Fulham's recent promotion seasons. A permanent transfer was agreed during the summer of 2018 for £22 million, rising to £27 million.

Fulham (2018-present)
Aleksandar joined the club on 31 January 2018 in a last minute loan deal on transfer deadline day. He had been in Belgium on the verge of re-joining his former club Anderlecht on loan, however they failed to sell another player in time to finance the move and Aleksandar took a flight back to England to quickly sign a deal with the Whites for the rest of the season.

He scored his first goal for Fulham in a 1-1 draw with Bristol City at Ashton Gate on 21 February 2018, followed up with a fantastic strike which sealed a 2-0 victory three days later against table-toppers Wolves at Craven Cottage.

His goalscoring form did not stop and he eventually managed 12 goals in 17 league games. His goals and Fulham's form earnt the club a return back to the Premier League, as promotion was assured in a Play-off Final victory at Wembley Stadium on 26 May 2018.

Upon returning from the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Aleksandar was signed permanently for a reported fee of £22 million, rising to £27 million on 30 July 2018. Despite an incredibly poor season for the club which saw them relegated straight back to the Championship, Aleksandar managed to score an impressive 11 Premier League goals.

Amid much speculation that he would leave for a bigger club in the summer of 2019, he penned a new 5-year deal with Fulham and committed his foreseeable future at Craven Cottage, stating his enjoyment of playing for the club and living in London. He scored a phenomenal 26 league goals as he once again halped Fulham to win promotion back to the Premier League, albeit through the Play-offs once again.

After seemingly bringing his goalscoring form into the 2020-21 season following a brace during a 4-3 loss away to Leeds United, Aleksandar would go on to have a complete goal-drought. His confidence was further shattered during the season whilst on international duty with a penalty miss that would see Serbia fail to qualify for the upcoming European Championships at the hands of Scotland. He went on to net only one more goal for Fulham in the entire season under Scott Parker as the club were relegated once again.

In the second week of the 2021-22 campaign back in the Championship, he scored what could be described as one of the most comical goals in Fulham's history. In what was the first goal of a 5-1 thrashing at Huddersfield, whilst chasing down a poor goalkeeper clearance he slipped to the ground whilst the ball simultaneously struck him and looped slowly into the empty net to open his account for the season. This led to a return to goalscoring form for Aleksandar, which included two early season hat-tricks as he scored all three goals in the first half of a 3-1 win at home to Swansea City, and all three in a 3-0 win during a top of the table clash against West Bromwich Albion.

Aleksandar scored another first half hat-trick on 15 January 2022 in a 6-2 thumping of Bristol City at Craven Cottage, which meant he became only the second ever Fulham player to score two first half hat-tricks in one season (after Arthur Rowley in 1948-49). On 12 February 2022, he levelled the record for the most Championship goals in one season by a player when scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win over Hull City, equalling Ivan Toney's 31 set the previous season. He very quickly beat the record and went on to total an astonishing 43 league goals for the 2021-22 season - levelling the club record set by Frank Newton in 1931-32.