The hulking, £15m Serb with the machine gun goal celebration was supposed to blow the Championship away.
In the end, he managed just TEN goals this season – and four of those were for Serbia. Hardly what you'd expect from a man paid £40,000-a-week, the highest salary in the entire EFL.
Dwight Gayle's success in the lone striker role has played a part in keeping Mitrovic benched. Yet Newcastle's top scorer has missed a third of the season through injury, and it is telling that Rafa Benitez has frequently preferred Daryl Murphy or even Yoan Gouffran in his absence.
Even when Mitrovic has played – 29 times, in fact – he has shown all the speed, finesse and awareness of an Aberdeen Angus. It would be a miracle if he remains a Toon player beyond August.
