Five strikers Fulham could sign this January
We look at five number nines Fulham could look to for firepower during the window.
It’s been a bit of a messy international break. Poor form and contradictory reports regarding Marco Silva’s future in the media have stirred up all sorts of conversations. One thing is for sure though: we are struggling up front.
Raul Jimenez is playing superbly, but lacking goalscoring form and fitness. Rodrigo Muniz has undergone surgery and is out for months rather than weeks.
Jonah Kusi-Asare, on the surface at least, does not yet have the trust of the management. So while Fulham’s January business is often light, it may be a position we simply have to recruit in. Here are five names we could look at.
1. Franculino
Though perhaps unachievable, Franculino feels like the option in Europe who could just jump into any side right now and provide goals.
The Guinea-Bissau international was relatively prolific at youth level with Benfica, but has exploded since moving to Denmark. Midtjylland have a reputation for developing young players, including our very own Joachim Andersen, and Franculino has thrived at the club too.
The forward is currently the top scorer in the Europa League, which is quite something even at these early stages considering the calibre of player and club in the competition. His scoring record in Denmark, though, is astonishing. Some 14 goals and a three assists in just 14 Danish Superliga games so far this season is out of this world, no matter which European top division you play in.
This feels like a name that Fulham, if they wanted to be ambitious, could jump on now before he becomes unaffordable in a year or two’s time.
2. Josh Sargent
Since Norwich were last relegated to the second tier in 2022, Josh Sargent has established himself as not just one of the league’s best goalscorers, but as one of the best players in the Championship full stop. He was always known as a good all-round forward from his time in Germany at a young age, but now is adding goals on a frequent basis, with 13+ in each of the last three seasons, while being on track to do the same this season even in a struggling Norwich side.
The Canaries’ poor form may pave the way for Sargent to look elsewhere. Sure, a new manager bounce is likely to come from the appointment from Phillipe Clement, but he’s going to feel as if, at 25 and in superb goalscoring form, the time is right to have another crack at the Premier League. And why not Fulham?
Unlike Farke’s Norwich sides, we’re not a team that’s going to be left bottom of the league not creating chances, and Sargent fits into the history of Americans at the club, already amassing 29 caps for the USMNT. With a home World Cup on the horizon, playing at a higher level and testing himself as a goalscorer in his prime will surely appeal more than ever for Sargent.
3. Troy Parrott
The man of the moment, it’s fair to say (and no, Jack Collins hasn’t paid me to write this). With his recent exploits for the Republic of Ireland, Parrott’s name is on everyone’s lips. Two goals against Portugal followed by an era-defining hat-trick against Hungary has the Irish asking where his statue should be built. The reality is though, since moving away from Tottenham, Parrott has been building towards this success, via loans in the English pyramid and a breakthrough in the Eredivisie.
Across nearly 180 senior games up front now, Parrott is averaging basically a goal every other game at club level, consistently having good goalscoring seasons to the point where he is now one of the best marksmen in the Netherlands.
As well as his international heroics, Parrott is already notching up more than a goal contribution a game this season for AZ Alkmaar, including scoring seven in five to help the Dutch side cruise through the Europa Conference League qualifying stage. Of course, his market value will be sky-high right now, but what other strikers in Europe feel as risk-free right now?
4. Yuri Alberto
A Brazil international, with his single cap coming in March 2023, Yuri Alberto would very much be in the Rodrigo Muniz mould. He’s a relatively young at 21, scoring at a respectable level in South America, and has lots of room to grow under the coaching of Marco Silva. Sound familiar?
Yuri Alberto may not have William Estevao levels of super stardom in Brazil at the moment with Corinthians, but the likes of Muniz, Igor Jesus etc, are showing that the pathway from Brazilian football to the Premier League is extremely doable for a number nine.
Alberto already has European experience following a brief stint with Zenit St Petersburg, including game time in the Europa League. Considering recent reports linking Alberto with Roma among other European clubs, and coming off the back of a 2024 season that saw 20 goal contributions in the Brazilian Serie A, Alberto might surprise some with how quickly he could adapt were he to come to the Cottage.
5. Jonah Kusi-Asare
You didn’t see this one coming, did you? The fifth option I’m putting forward is the man we apparently already have an option to buy. Yes, he doesn’t seem to be in Silva’s imminent plans. No, his showing against Wycombe didn’t set the world on fire. Yes, he’s a raw talent who we have seen very little of and may not show any signs of improvement in the Premier League. But how will we ever know if he doesn’t get a chance?
The boy isn’t a complete nobody who we’ve plucked from the middle of nowhere; he’s a striker from an elite European club. He’s rated so highly that Bayern insisted on a buy-back clause in any permanent deal.
JKA is young, but we wouldn’t have signed him were the potential not there. We’ve also seen about 20 minutes of him. Jonah will be getting to know his teammates and growing within the Fulham environment on a daily basis.
With more opportunities, you do not know just how much he could thrive, and with him already being in the building with a potential deal in place, he could prove to be the safest and most intelligent signing of anyone on the list.
Necessity is the mother of invention and all that…