have sent young striker Mika Biereth on loan again, just days after being slammed for terminating their agreement with Motherwell.
The 20-year-old joined the Scottish club earlier in the season and had shown signs of promise, scoring six goals in 14 appearances.
Stuart Kettlewell, Mothwell’s manager, branded the Gunners’ decision to recall the Denmark internationaland claimed the giants had reneged on a recent promise that the player would spend the entire campaign at Fir Park.
‘This was a little bit unexpected, the conversation was that Mika would stay here until the end of the season as recently as last week,’ said Kettlewell.
‘He would 100% be staying at Motherwell unless something really big came on the table for Arsenal and something that they thought was an opportunity that they can’t turn down.’
It was understood that a loan to The Championship was on the cards with Sheffield Wednesday showing interest, but Arsenal confirmed on Friday that Biereth would instead spend the rest of the season with Austrian side Sturm Graz.
A statement read: ‘Mika Biereth has returned from his loan spell at Scottish Premiership side Motherwell and will join Austrian Bundesliga team SK Sturm Graz for the remainder of the season.
‘The 20-year-old forward has had a fine start to the campaign, making 15 appearances for Motherwell, scoring six goals, and assisting five times.
‘We wish Mika all the best for his loan spell at SK Sturm Graz and look forward to seeing his continued development.’
Despite Arsenal’s well documented struggles in front of goal, Mikel Arteta saw no immediate future for Biereth at the Emirates Stadium and will continue to rely on the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah to rediscover their shooting boots.
Speaking ahead of this afternoon’s game against Crystal Palace, Arteta said: Yes (we want more goals from Gabriel Jesus) but that’s for everybody. We have to share goals, and we are responsible for everything.
‘On set pieces, the goalkeeper is responsible, the striker is responsible and when there is a throw-in everybody is responsible for whatever happens with that throw-in. We have to share that responsibility, like we have always done.
‘Confidence is a big factor but if you don’t produce the number of chances that we have created and expect to create more than any other team in the league, we’re not going to score enough goals. But I love the players that I have, the way they work and the way they go about it and that will come.’
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