PARIS (AP) — When Mika Biereth joined Monaco during the winter transfer window he boldly described himself as resembling Erling Haaland in his style of play.
Considering he arrived from Sturm Graz in the modest Austrian league, it sounded far-fetched to compare himself with Haaland, who has been prolific for Manchester City and Norway.
But Biereth clearly backed his ability, and he is raising eyebrows for his foresight.
The 22-year-old striker has netted 10 times in just seven Ligue 1 games for Monaco, including three straight hat tricks at home and only one penalty in that total. Including goals for Sturm Graz, he has 24 in 35 games this season.
Monaco paid 13 million euros ($13.5 million) with a further two million ($2.1 million) in bonuses, which in soccer transfer terms appears a bargain for such a natural finisher.
Although Biereth is not exceptionally quick, he combines powerful running with excellent movement and positional sense. His shooting is extremely precise and, in a similar way to Haaland, he has little hesitation when he shoots.
Biereth's ratio compares favorably against the best forwards to have played in Ligue 1.
He reached 10 goals in Ligue 1 faster than Zlatan Ibrahimovic — who took nine matches — and Neymar — who needed 13 — after they both joined Paris Saint-Germain.
Biereth will look to keep climbing up the scoring charts when Monaco travel to Toulouse on Friday. But looking further ahead, Biereth needs to decide which country to play for.
Most national teams would like a clinical finisher like Biereth, but the question for him is who to represent.
“I'm in a unique situation. Few players can represent four countries," he said after last Friday’s hat trick against Reims. "My mother was born and grew up in Bosnia, my father is half-Danish, half-German, and I lived in England.”
He has played for Denmark at under-19 and under-21 level — captaining them last October — but has not played for the Danes at senior level.
Luis Enrique may rest key players
PSG coach Luis Enrique may rest key players for Saturday's trip to Rennes, because of the tough trip to Liverpool coming up in the Champions League.
PSG lost to Liverpool 1-0 on Wednesday in the first leg despite dominating almost the entire game.
PSG has a 13-point lead in Ligue 1 and can afford to prioritize the Champions League ahead of Tuesday's match in Liverpool.
But Rennes is starting to find form under new coach Habib Beye and beat Montpellier 4-0 last weekend, with former PSG striker Arnaud Kalimuendo among the scorers.
Fonseca begins lengthy Lyon ban
Lyon coach Paulo Fonseca has been banned from the touchline at games for nine months for aggressively confronting referee Benoît Millot during a game last Sunday.
Fonseca also is banned from the locker room and access to players at games until Sept. 15.
Lyon is in sixth place and plays at third-placed Nice on Sunday.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Jerome Pugmire, The Associated Press
