Fulham striker Aleksander Mitrovic has revealed that he nearly joined Middlesbrough when he left Newcastle United in January 2018 but a WhatsApp message to then Cottagers manager Slavisa Jokanovic changed things completely.
The Serbian has been fantastic since joining the west London just over two years ago – scoring 46 goals in 93 games.
After arriving in the winter transfer window, the 25-year-old striker helped fire them to Premier League promotion in the 2017/18 campaign and grabbed 12 goals in 17 league games.
Mitrovic has had his most impressive season since joining Fulham this term – finding the net 23 times already and helping Scott Parker's side to climb to third.
But it all could have been so different for Mitrovic, Fulham and potentially Middlesbrough.
In an interview with FourFourTwo, the Serbia international revealed that he nearly made the switch to the Riverside and not Craven Cottage when he left Newcastle United in January 2018.
He said (via Teesside Live): "I travelled from Newcastle to Belgium, to re-sign for Anderlecht.
"But the transfer broke down because they were unable to sell one of their players to Udinese, so didn’t have the money to sign me.
"Newcastle called and said Middlesbrough would sign me. At that point I said I’d go anywhere, so my agent started negotiating with Boro."
Mitrovic added: “I was looking at WhatsApp, and then I saw Slavisa Jokanovic’s name. He had called me only a few days before and asked about my situation, and I told him that I was going to Anderlecht.
“On deadline day I got bored with waiting, so I sent him a message saying: ‘Hi, how are you?’
“He messaged me back, asking if it was true that my deal had broken down, and saying he still needed a striker.
“I replied: ‘Yes please, I want to join Fulham. Phone my agent.’ We did the deal in Belgium. It went right to the final minutes – I was so relieved to get it done.
“I was the player they were missing, and this was the club I needed."
The two clubs have had rather different fortunes since. Fulham spent last season in the Premier League and are pushing to get back there once again this time around, while Boro are batting for survival at the bottom of the table.
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The Verdict
This may make painful reading for Boro fans.
Mitrovic has shown his quality in the Championship and there are few, if any, strikers on his level in the division at the moment.
It appears he would've made the switch to the Riverside had he not taken the initiative and reached out to Jokanovic himself.
That WhatsApp exchange has proved absolutely huge for the Cottagers.