"It was really hard in Newcastle. It was one city, one club. Everybody there was really crazy about Newcastle," Aleksandar Mitrovic said, looking back on his time at Newcastle. He said the city made it difficult to switch off, and that life there did not give him much room away from football. He also thanked Rafa Benitez for letting him leave.
Newcastle's pressure and Benitez's part in the exit
Mitrovic joined Newcastle from Anderlecht in 2015 for around £13million and made 72 appearances, scoring 17 goals and providing 10 assists. He left for Fulham in January 2018, after saying Benitez's tactical setup did not suit him offensively.
"Benitez is a good person but in the formation he played, I didn't feel good with his tactics," Mitrovic told Chronicle Live. He added that he was thankful Benitez let him go, and that he wished Newcastle all the best.
Fulham's deadline-day rescue
The move to Fulham was initially on loan, after a deadline-day scramble that ended with Fulham beating Middlesbrough to the signing. Mitrovic said the whole process was stressful, but it gave him the move that worked.
He scored 12 goals in 17 league appearances as Fulham finished third and won the Championship play-offs that season. Fulham's persistence in the final hour of the window mattered to him, and the spell became the springboard for his best years in England.
Newcastle are 13th in the Premier League with 11 points from 9 games, while Fulham are 15th with 9 points from 9 games. Mitrovic's comments leave the focus on the move itself, not any meeting between the clubs now, and his January 2018 exit remains the key date in the story.
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 1 outlet. How we work →
