Sturm Graz chief Schicker admits they want to keep Arsenal striker Biereth

Sturm Graz sporting director Andreas Schicker admits they want to sign Arsenal striker Mika Biereth.

The Dane has quickly impressed since joining on-loan in January.

It has been a really good start. He arrived late to our training camp in Turkey, but he still scored in his very first training match," Schicker told Tipsbladet.

He has been well received by his teammates, and my impression is that he is happy to be here, even though he obviously lacks some understanding of our playing style.

It's completely normal for it to be like this, and we are very happy with Mika so far.

Arsenal was not willing to include an option to buy, but nevertheless, we will still explore the possibility of keeping Mika longer than the summer.

Right now, we are just focusing on having a really skilled attacker that we can benefit from in the current half-season. What happens next, time will tell.

He was already on our radar when he played for Arsenal's Under-21 team. Since then, he has been on loan in both Holland and Scotland.

We have been in continuous contact with his representatives, and when our striker Seedy Jatta got injured in January, we contacted Mika, and we are extremely happy that we could reach an agreement so quickly."