Newcastle United’s Aleksandar Mitrovic has matured into a true No. 9

Aleksandar Mitrovic not only showed the Premier League and Rafa what he could do when he was at Fulham, but he’s proving the world wrong when he continues to score international goals. Mitrovic’s price is not only going up, but his value to the club is going up as well. Rafa Benitez must see that, and he must realize that the striker we all thought we were getting years ago when we signed him from Anderlecht has arrived.

That’s not to say he’s perfect. But his discipline has more than improved, and he has proven so many of his detractors wrong.

If you were to ask me the worth of Aleksandar Mitrovic today, I’d say the striker signed by Newcastle for £13m is now worth around £25m. Clubs are likely willing to pay, and if Rafa hasn’t changed his mind on the striker yet, our club may be willing to sell. But that could be a huge mistake.

Despite finishing in tenth place, Newcastle is still in desperate need of a pure number nine. The club needs someone who is strong and physical, and able to find the back of the net. None of the club’s starting strikers managed that. Perez showed us flashes of brilliance towards the end of the season, and he’s a huge reason why we’re still in t he Premier league, but no player was our true go-to guy.

Mitrovic was that guy for Fulham, and for years he’s been that guy for Serbia. And I think it’s time we make him that guy for Newcastle United. Worst case scenario, his discipline never changes, and he fails to score more than ten goals. Best case scenario, he brings back the prolific player that we saw in Belgium before he came to Newcastle and scored nine.

He’s only 23 years-old. He’s not old. It’s not too late for him to shine. It’s the perfect time to give the man who was going to be our next legend a chance to become that legend under a legendary manager. And before you mention that he struggled under Benitez and failed to score in the Championship; new tactics can throw any player off their game.

If Benitez can change up his strategy just a bit to give Mitrovic the go-ahead to score. I think Mitrovic can be our guy. He can be our true No. 9.