Arsenal have agreed a fee of £4milllion with Sturm Graz for the permanent transfer of forward Mika Biereth.
The transfer is thought to be a record fee for Sturm Graz and will include a sell-on clause, which will see Arsenal profit from any future sales of the Denmark Under-21 international.
Biereth, 21, spent the second half of last season on loan at Sturm Graz, where he helped them to win the Austrian Bundesliga.
The striker scored nine goals and made four assists in all competitions for Sturm Graz, building on a strong first half of the season during which he scored six and assisted five goals on loan at Motherwell.
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The transfer is viewed as good business on all fronts as Arsenal make profit on a player they signed from Fulham in 2021, Sturm Graz get a player they admire and Biereth himself gets to play in the Champions League next season.
Sturm Graz were also the club who bought Rasmus Hojlund from FC Copenhagen in January 2022 for a reported €1.8million. He scored 12 goals in 21 games and was sold to Atalanta that summer for a reported €17m, where he spent one season before joining Manchester United for an initial £64m.
Arsenal’s relationship has been building with Sturm Graz for the last two seasons. Before Biereth’s loan, and subsequent transfer this year, Arsenal loaned goalkeeper Arthur Okonkwo to the Austrian side in the 2022-23 season.
It has been viewed as a level of football to give young players exposure and allow them to develop further away from Arsenal.
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(David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)
