Even by Tony Khan’s standards, yesterday was shaping up to be a frantic deadline day.
A “here we go” by 7am appeared to set the tone for what felt like a busy day at Motspur Park and although we ended up with three through the door, it did still feel a bit quiet towards the end of the day. So whose come in? Is the squad fully ready for the season?
Incomings
Hugo Larsson
Larsson was the first name to receive the Fabrizo Romano treatment early on Tuesday morning and has come through the door from Eintracht Frankfurt on a loan with an obligation of £19m.
A box-to-box midfielder whose standout season came in 2024-25 in the top 25% of midfielders for defensive contributions, top 17% for interceptions and top 16% for blocked shots. He was also not afraid to get forward as well being in the top 25% for successful dribbles, top 20% for pass accuracy, top 30% for chance creation as well as top 30% for goals scored.
To summarise, Larrson will get up and down the pitch. He’ll press from the front and be a tough tackler but will also bring the ball forward and add some more creativity from the middle of the park - something we certainly lacked against Sunderland. I think this is a good pick-up and a decent fee.
Manuel Angel
Although Larsson was the first that fans knew were happeninng, it was Angel who was the first to be announced by the club making him the third player from Real Madrid this transfer window. The 22 year old joined from Real Madrid for a reported €4m with Madrid having the same sell-on fee/clauses in place as the deals for both Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios.
He’s another creative option that Arbeloa worked with at Real Madrid Castilla. Arbeloa has previously touted him as “an elite player in the making”. Angel, similarly to Palacios, hasn’t featured much for the Real Madrid first team but will come to Craven Cottage with promise and with the aim of developing into a top player - especially for the low fee.
Personally, I’m not sure how I feel about two of our midfield options being “projects” and with Palacios flattering to deceive in the early exchanges of the Premier League, I am a bit worried.
David Affengruber
After centre-backs were rumoured in their droves over the summer, David Affengruber was finally the one to fit the bill late on Tuesday night. The Austrian international joins from Elche for a reported £8.6m.
A 25 year old who joined the Spanish side in 2024, helped them to promotion to La Liga and was a mainstay in their side last season to keep them up in Spain’s top division. Affengruber usually operates as the centre of a back three so may take some adjustment to a high-pressing defensive two in the Premier League.
That being said, Affengruber is rated highly by Elche fans and his stats from last season show why. He was in the top 9% of defenders in Europe for tackles, top 6% for recoveries, top 8% for interceptions and top 15% for defensive contributions. The Austrian international clearly isn’t afraid to get stuck in and be physical but also wants the ball to feet as well.
He was in the top 20% for touches and top 15% for successful passes so will suit the way Arebloa wants to play. It looks like a good buy for the fee, I just worry how much pressure we’re putting on someone who wasn’t a first-choice target and was available on deadline day for a cut-price.
Outgoings
I was quite surprised to see that there were no departures on Deadline Day with the most obvious player to talk about being Kenny Tete.
The Dutchman looked set for a move to Everton for the second year running with David Moyes’s side willing to pay £9m. Fulham deals for a replacement right-back never materialised, leaving Everton to look elsewhere and end up with Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
A few things on this. Firstly, I worry that we’ll never get that kind of fee again for the almost 31 year old. Also, him not being in the squad against Sunderland now makes even less sense. Our problems in the second-half came after Arbeloa decided to hook Castagne and with no ready-made replacement on the bench, Fulham looked light - may this have cost us a point?
Looking into developmental loans, why on earth is Luc De Fougerolles still at the club? I get that it took us until the last hour to sign Affengruber but seriously? Fig Rolls has just come off the back of a good World Cup and spent last year out in Belgium. Where does he fit in now? Carabao Cup fixtures and PL2 football until January? A bit of a mess.
Are we ready?
I quite like the business of Larsson and Affengruber and think that we did some good late business, but it doesn’t feel like enough. To me, the squad feels quite unbalanced. Oscar Bobb looks shot for confidence and after losing both Wilson and Chukwueze in the summer, Fulham have failed to bring in another wide option.
Macaulay Zepa looked good against AFC Wimbledon but that’s an awful lot of pressure to put on him to be Bobb’s understudy. Arbeloa clearly doesn’t rate Tete and I know we tried for other options but that entire right-hand side feels a bit weak.
There have been question marks regarding Bernd Leno as well and I wonder if there may have been an opportunity to look for another option. Not necessarily someone who’s ready now, but a younger and hungrier second-choice than Lecomte. Instead, it feels like we’ve kicked it down the road to deal with next summer.
I think there’s been good business; our midfield looks pretty stacked for the first-time in years. But we certainly could - and should - have done more.
It’s clearly now up to Arbeloa. But, come on, Fulham September 2026 is better than Fulham 2025 almost everywhere. Certainly at RD where 4 of 5 goals so far have been created. I’ve been a big fan of Diop in the past but not for his defense. Cuenca can now help cover Jedi and free up Sess. At this point I’d rather have a younger Sess than Wilson. Neither are classic RW; both are goal scorers. Clearly stronger in Midfield. Have to figure Kevin this year over Kevin last year. Which leaves striker; and Garcia/Muniz ‘26 seems preferable to Raul/Muniz ‘25.
Not terrible business, but the fact is we remain massively light on proven PL players. Combine this with an inexperienced, Amorim style 'principle over pragmatism' manager, and I think there is genuine 50% chance we get relegated. Tony Khan seems to enjoy the deadline day dealings as some sort of game rather than a serious DoF. The lack of planning is criminal really, and I think we will all really start to appreciate how well Silva combatted TKs incompetence. Arbeloa will be gone by Christmas, and it will be a harum-scarum 2nd half of the season.