Mika Biereth was only at Motherwell for half a season but certainly left an impression.
The striker scored a reasonable six goals in 15 Steelmen appearances but that doesn’t tell the full story as he led their line with a blend of physicality and technique and clearly made them a better team when he was in it.
Arsenal recalled him early from what was supposed to be a season-long loan and immediately sent him to Sturm Graz. Biereth’s form continued in the Austrian Bundesliga as he helped them to a league and cup double – and they were persuaded to spend £4million (The Sun) signing him permanently.
And he has since made an even bigger move with his career really taking off in France.
- READ MORE: Peter Grant’s Motherwell Michael Wimmer rant would be very different if it was his club Celtic
Biereth breaking records at Monaco
The goals really started to flow after the permanent move to Sturm Graz – the 22-year-old banging in 11 in 16 in the league as well as a couple in the Champions League.
His stunning run meant that his stay in Austria was almost as fleeting as the one in Scotland.
French side Monaco decided to splash out an initial £10.8million (The Athletic) with potential for another £1.65m in add-ons to take him to Ligue 1.
And the move to a higher level hasn’t seemed to slow him down any.
Biereth scored in his second league game for the French giants and then fired in a hat-trick against Auxerre. A 4-1 defeat against PSG followed but the next one against Nantes was happier – a 7-1 thumping seeing him hit another treble.
That wasn’t enough for him though, and after drawing a blank against Lille he amazingly banged in another hat-trick against Stade Reims on Friday night.
That makes it three hat-tricks in his last five league games and he becomes the first player to score three trebles in their first seven games for a club in French football.
All change at Motherwell since Biereth’s spell
Biereth’s manager at Motherwell, Stuart Kettlewell, recently handed in his resignation and blamed abuse from fans for tipping him over the edge.
Kettlewell insisted he feared ending up in a confrontation with a supporter if he’d stayed.
And he later sent a message to those supportive Well fans after being sent a picture of a tribute paid to him by the kit man.
The Steelmen have since appointed German boss Michael Wimmer.
It is one that was criticised by Peter Grant who would have preferred a Scottish boss to get the job – but Wimmer has started well and masterminded a victory over Rangers yesterday.