Mika Biereth: The former Arsenal man scoring goals for fun for Monaco

The obvious question for Biereth is that if he had stayed at Arsenal, would he have got the chance to play under Arteta and, ultimately, been able to score the goals to keep them in the Premier League title race for longer?

"Yeah, I think not only am I thinking that - maybe a few other people are thinking that. I think that is just how football works," says Biereth.

"When I was there, I was not really getting a feeling that there was an opportunity for me. I didn't want to wait around and hope for something lucky. I'd rather go out and prove myself and I think I have done that to a certain extent so far.

"Football is a weird sport, you can always think 'what if I didn't do this or what if I didn't do that?'

"The way I think about stuff is that I can't keep thinking about 'what if I stayed?' I'm really happy here at Monaco and playing really well and we have just secured Champions League football for next season."

Since losing starting forward Kai Havertz to injury following a 5-1 win over Manchester City in February, and with Gabriel Jesus already out for the season, Arsenal have won just four of their 12 Premier League games.

Biereth has both outscored any Arsenal player and outperformed his expected goals to a larger extent than any of his former team-mates in that period.

He may have got an opportunity at Emirates Stadium through circumstance, but Arsenal would have gone into the transfer market regardless this summer looking for a new striker.

"It's crazy to think that just two seasons ago I couldn't get a kick in the Dutch league for not one of the bigger teams," says Biereth. "But football changes really quickly."

Now he is set to play in the Champions League with Monaco next season, while attempting to help Denmark to the World Cup next summer.

"I'm really proud to first get a move to a team in a top five league and then to start playing well here," Biereth says.

"With the international recognition, it was not only a proud moment for me but my family as well.

"That's the pinnacle of everything, representing my family's country and my country and to do it really proudly."

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