Arsenal also concedes
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As expected, Mika Biereth is leaving the Austrian champions Sturm Graz: The Dane is moving to Ligue 1 for AS Monaco, where he has a contract that runs until 2029. Biereth only moved to Graz in January 2024. The striker excelled at the Blackies as a loan player from Arsenal FC and was then signed permanently for a record sum of 4.7 million euros after winning the championship.
Sturm will now receive a basic fee of 13 million euros for the sale, and 2 million euros could also follow in the form of bonuses. Another 5 million euros are possible if the Monegasques are resold. With a total volume of 20 million euros, the attacker would become the Styrians’ record transfer alongside compatriot Rasmus Højlund (21). Højlund moved to Atalanta in August 2022 for 17.2 million euros, and Sturm received a further 2.8 million euros by selling the attacker to Manchester. A small downside from Schwoazn’s point of view: Due to a resale share, Arsenal receives a third of the transfer fee paid by Monaco.
In the current season, Biereth made 25 appearances for Sturm, in which he scored 14 goals. With eleven league goals, the English native is currently the top goalscorer in the Austrian Bundesliga together with Linz’s Ronivaldo (35). It recently increased its market value from 7 million to 13 million euros.
“There’s no question that we didn’t make the decision about Mika Biereth’s departure easy in the last few days. Ultimately, we chose the path that was right for both the club and the player. Mika put in great performances in the fall, helped the team a lot with his goals and of course aroused desire. Of course, we would have liked to go into the spring with Mika, in which we continue to pursue big goals. But it is also clearly SK Sturm’s path to further develop young players, bring them to a new personal level and of course ultimately sell them profitably – we have succeeded in doing that once again,” said sports director Michael Parensen.
