Newcastle United legend Malcolm MacDonald has heaped huge criticism on striker Aleksandar Mitrovic for his lack of improvement at the club.
The 23-year-old endured a tough start to life in England as he was part of the squad who suffered relegation to the Championship during his debut campaign.
Although the striker was not a regular starter for the Magpies last season, he still managed to contribute with six goals and six assists in all competitions, helping Newcastle to finish the campaign as champions of the division and bounce straight back to the English top-flight.
However, Newcastle boss Rafa Benitez appears to have fallen out of favour with the Serbian this time around as he has failed to complete 90 minutes in the Premier League this season.
Despite only making three appearances in all competitions, Mitrovic has still produced two goals in the process.
Writing in his column for the Chronicle, MacDonald is not surprised that the striker has not featured much this season and he believes that the club made a mistake in signing the striker.
“I know there’s a support for him in the crowd but they really are responding to his antics, not his talent on the field,” he wrote.
“I think he plays the crowd better than he plays football with all the raised fists and trying to gee up the crowd.
“Mitrovic isn’t anywhere near that level but the way some talk about him, it’s almost as if he is the answer to Benitez’s prayers and the manager just doesn’t realise it.
“He should be dominating centre halves but instead he still allows himself to be wound up by them.
“Considering how long he has been a professional footballer – and how long he has played in England – that is just not acceptable.
“To be honest, I regret the day Newcastle bought him. If you had £13million and gave it to Rafa Benitez, he would buy a much better, more complete forward.”
OPINION
Despite delivering an extremely harsh verdict on Mitrovic’s Newcastle career, MacDonald does have a point. The Serbia international has all the attributes to impose himself as a traditional number nine and bully Premier League defences. However, he struggles to produce consistent performances and he also finds it difficult to maintain his discipline on the pitch which has seen him already fall victim to a three-game suspension this season. However, the Magpies struggled for goals before the international break and when he has been given the opportunity this season, Mitrovic has delivered and Benitez should look to deploy him against Manchester United in next week’s Premier League fixture.