Mitrovic’s 100 goals for Fulham: How a hurried loan signing became a modern legend

Fulham have had their fair share of footballing heroes over the years. But in the modern era, none come close to the goalscoring brilliance of Aleksandar Mitrovic.

On Saturday, Serbia’s all-time leading goalscorer added another layer to his legacy in west London. In the 56th minute of his 181st appearance, he scored his 100th goal for Fulham. Only seven other men have reached that milestone for the club in its entire history, and Mitrovic is the first for nearly 40 years.

It is a remarkable achievement, and only reinforces his untouchable status at the club.

“It’s a nice number,” said Mitrovic, speaking to The Athletic after the game. “I’m very happy to score 100 goals for this beautiful club. Hopefully, I’ll score many more to make these fans happy.

“I have a lot of great memories in the past, and hopefully I will have a lot of great memories in the future. We have so many good and bad memories, but you know, it’s a big love between me and the club and the fans and I love everything about this club. I hope I’ll score many goals and make the fans and everybody at the club happy.”

Mitrovic is already doing that, almost on a weekly basis now. Against Arsenal, he hunted down defender Gabriel, seized the ball and tucked it away with familiar ease.

Aleksandar Mitrovic pounces on Gabriel's indecision and Fulham lead against Arsenal!#AFC | #FFC | #ARSFUL

📽️ @SkySportsPLpic.twitter.com/0QR2pv8AbO

— The Athletic UK (@TheAthleticUK) August 27, 2022

“It’s something we practised during the week,” he explains. “We tried to press them from the start. I pressed well, but the team did good pressing.

“I tried to gamble on which way he would go, and I was right. I got the ball and put it in the net. It was really nice goal.”

Mitrovic is now as much a part of the furniture at Fulham as Craven Cottage itself.

The 27-year-old has come a long way from a hurried deadline day loan signing in January 2018, when he almost rejoined Anderlecht, only for that move to collapse at the 11th hour.

His goalscoring record tells the tale of his time by the Thames. Initially, it took him a while to get up and running. He waited four games before he finally struck his first goal for the club; a poacher’s finish inside the six-yard box at Ashton Gate, on February 21 2018.

From then on, he did not look back. In that first season, he scored 12 goals as Fulham powered to promotion via the play-offs under Slavisa Jokanovic. There would be 11 more in a challenging Premier League season, before he landed 26 under Scott Parker en route to another promotion. Another difficult season in the Premier League followed, where he fell out of favour with the now Bournemouth boss and was limited to three goals in a year, but he was given a new lease of life under Marco Silva, under whom he secured an astonishing 43 goals in a single Championship season.

The goals show no sign of drying up after promotion.

“Every goal is special,” he says. “Every goal is different. No matter how you score, every goal is important and the most important thing is to put the ball in the net. Sometimes you do it in a nice way, sometimes not. But that’s my job.”

After that first goal, Bristol City would go on to concede four more to Mitrovic over the years. They were not his favoured opponents, though. Swansea and Luton hold that badge of honour, conceding seven apiece, while Tottenham, Liverpool and now Arsenal now count among his victims. There was always room for goals against local rivals QPR and Brentford too, who have suffered six goals between them.

You will not be surprised to learn that the vast majority of Mitrovic’s 100 Fulham goals — 97 to be exact — were scored inside the penalty area. This is prime Mitrovic territory, where he plunders for goals and earns his keep. He has an animal instinct in the six-yard box and knows the right place to be at the right time.

Only three goals were scored outside the box. They have been rare occurrences but for those lucky enough to see them, they were often memorable. His second goal for the club was scored from distance, and is arguably his best of the lot. It was his first at Craven Cottage, and was a mix of skill, power and technique.

It took place against Wolves, the league leaders on February 24, 2018. He received the ball with his back to goal, and shrugged off the attentions of Conor Coady. He then sells three defenders with a dummy to go inside, which opened space for the shot, before rifling the ball into the net. As Virgil van Dijk can now attest, Mitrovic is not all brawn.

Even so, Mitrovic’s trademark is his aerial ability. He has scored 30 goals with his head. The archetypal target forward, he combines his evident strength with an impressive leap, always well-timed and precise.

Many full-backs and central defenders have suffered under his shadow, from Trent Alexander-Arnold earlier this season (goal No 96) to Brighton’s Lewis Dunk, who had a torrid time in 2018 trying to keep Mitrovic at bay in a rare Premier League win in 2018-19 (goals No 21 and No 22). Curtis Davies once tried to stop him by wrapping his arm around his neck in flight, but even that didn’t stop the ball hitting the back of the net (goal No 36).

He has had many memorable moments. From his last-minute winner against Swansea City, where he sent a header crashing off the bar having earlier missed a penalty (goal No 46) to biting back against Ivan Toney after the Brentford forward scored and mimicked his celebration (goal No 99) last week. “Maybe I am his idol,” he joked afterwards.

Mitrovic scored his first hat-trick against Luton Town (goals No 32-34), his only treble from his first 50 goals — which you can relive in its entirety here. He would score three more hat-tricks last season, during a campaign that he, and Fulham, will never forget.

Goal No 54 was the most comical, yet also marked a watershed. After a crazy backpass was rescued by Huddersfield goalkeeper Ryan Schofield, Mitrovic was on hand to deflect his poor clearance, after a slip, into the net.

This would be the first of 43 last season, a total that saw him overtake Guy Whittingham for the most goals in a 46-game second-tier season, and become the first player to score that many since Tommy Johnston of Leyton Orient and Blackburn in 1957-58. It also tied a club record of 43 in a season, held by Frank Newton since 1932.

That goal, no 95, underlined his knack for timing. It was the last goal of a phenomenal title-winning season, wrapping up a third 7-0 win of the season, and secured, of course, in stoppage time. He knows when to make his mark.

Fittingly, that goal was assisted by Harry Wilson. Wilson was key to Mitrovic’s exploits last season, providing 10 assists overall. Behind Wilson is trusty servant Joe Bryan, who laid on eight goals for his team-mate, most of which came en route to promotion in 2019-20.

Over the course of these 100 goals, Mitrovic has evolved. Numerically, he has found consistency in his prime years. He thrives in attacking teams, underlined by his returns under Jokanovic and now Silva, who play to his strengths. “You have to take the best from your players,” Silva said after Mitrovic’s brace against Liverpool. “Mitro has his own profile. It is up to us to deliver for him, to take the best from him.”

So far, that approach is bringing goals for both Mitrovic and Fulham. He has already surpassed his season total from two years ago, and looks set to rival his 11-goal return in a dysfunctional 2018-19 season.

One thing is clear, he is unlikely to stop at 100. Last summer, the fan favourite signed a new five-year contract, pledging his best years to the west London club. He feels at home at Fulham, and the love expressed by supporters is mutual.

 At 27, it is clear there is more to come.

“This club may not be the biggest in the world but it has soul, passion,” Mitrovic told The Athletic last year. “This club is like a small family. It has a big history. I have an amazing connection with this club. I feel really comfortable, really loved, welcome, when I step on the pitch.”

(Photo: Paul Harding/Getty Images)