Former Fulham forward Dimitar Berbatov has said Aleksandar Mitrovic will ‘bully’ Premier League defenders and believes the Serbian striker to be crucial in helping the Whites survive in the top flight this year.
Berbatov, who scored 20 goals in 54 appearances during his two year spell at Craven Cottage, told the Daily Star of his admiration for Fulham’s current number nine. He feels that Mitrovic will take confidence not only from his previous exploits in the Premier League, but from the way he lead to line to claim the Championship’s golden boot last term as Fulham won promotion via the play-offs:
There was a lot on his shoulders last season. It is a great achievement for him and it would have boosted his confidence. I like Mitrovic because he doesn’t care who he is playing against, he is always bullying defenders. He is strong and powerful in the air and hopefully Fulham can utilise fast players around him so they can give him the ball in the penalty area so he can bully the defenders and score.
Berbatov lavished praise on his former Fulham team-mate Scott Parker for guiding the club back to the top flight at the very first attempt.
I think they have done the toughest thing of all in coming back to the Premier League from the Championship. That was a massive achievement, and now – don’t go back again. This is the first priority. Don’t go back again because that would be a huge disappointment.
If they can do that, they can build, but so far Scott Parker has done unbelievably well. I was there before the virus to watch them train and I spoke with Scott for little while. I wished him luck then and I was so happy to see them come back to the Premier League. Now they need to strengthen their squad – but with the right players. The last time they bought so many players but none of them were particularly successful, they were leaking goals so easily. Fix that and they will be okay.
