Fulham are having a quiet summer - and that's a good thing

It's been all quiet on the (south) western front so far this window, but it's not necessarily all bad...

If you were a fly on the wall in Motspur Park these past few months, you’d have heard a pin drop. Silence is golden, but is that the case when that silence reflects our lack of incoming transfers? To say the fanbase is frustrated is an understatement, but when Marco spoke in an interview recently, although understanding the frustration, he did not share it. My view? The reason the man who wears his heart on his sleeve seems relaxed, is because inactivity at this stage is a good thing.

We started this summer from a place of stability, knowing there would be neither major player or managerial departures, and that we would retain our core squad by the end of the window. We consolidated the squad by retaining Kenny Tete and then TC. Then, excitingly, we also seem to be learning lessons and have begun future planning, with Luc de Fougerolles, Josh King and Seth Ridgeon committing their futures to the Whites. With those pieces of the puzzle in place, on analysing the squad, you can understand the dearth of incoming activity.

Since becoming a Premier League side, Marco has gradually built a solid midtable squad. We know he wants two players per position, and we aren’t far off; a few additions will make this squad feel more robust, ready to go after those European spots, or dare I say it, a domestic trophy.

Solid at the back

Our only incoming so far, is replacing butterfingers Steven Benda with Benjamin Lecomte, which makes the goalkeeper position feel a lot more secure, although we do need to start planning for the future here.

With Tete signing up for a few more years, the right-back position appears covered for now, especially as Timothy Castagne has recovered from surgery. This is complemented by the strength in depth at centre-back. After signing his new contract, LdF going on loan is a sensible scenario and a middle- to upper-level Championship club would do nicely, though the latest reports suggest that Belgium is the likely destination.

Antonee Robinson should be ready for the beginning of the season after his surgery, but there’s a vacancy for his understudy. Do we sign or loan someone? Could we promote academy product Jonathan Esenga? It feels premature, but he has travelled to Portugal for pre-season, so could be under consideration. Or do we use Ryan Sessegnon, Calvin Bassey and Castagne’s versatility as cover? It’s a position that ought to have some attention before the window closes.

Central flux

Central midfield is where the biggest debate lies among the fanbase. Sasa Lukic and Sander Berge are excellent DMs, but uninspiring CMs – as we saw last season – and they should battle it out for the one DM slot.

With future starboys King and Ridgeon signing contracts, and seemingly in the first-team squad, it does change squad planning at CM. It feels unlikely now that we sell Andreas Pereira this summer. If we did, we either sign an attacking midfielder to challenge Emile Smith Rowe, or it indicates that Marco sees King as the 10.

If we use King as a 10 to push ESR, we would need not just the reportedly incoming Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall at CM, but a second central midfielder signing to flesh out that part of the squad, and that seems unlikely. Particularly as Harrison Reed and TC only appear to be squad players. If we sign another 10 to replace Andreas that would suggest King and KDH contest that starting CM slot, but we also need to consider how that impacts a certain Mr Ridgeon’s future.

If Seth is one year behind King in his development, there’s no value in cluttering the squad with too many new CMs, as that would stifle his progression, which was probably the dream he was sold as he signed his contract.

So next season, we could see a refresh in midfield, with Seth rivalling Dewsbury-Hall at CM, and King then competing with ESR for the AM position, with TC, and potentially Reed and AP, moving on. Ultimately, there is a lot to consider here, which is helped by the versatility those midfielders all possess. This is a headache for Marco, but as the cliche goes, a good headache to have. It will be fascinating to see how this all plays out, but it is exciting to finally see the academy stars getting opportunities, we hope, to showcase their talents.

Change on the wings?

It seems we are looking for a game changing winger, with rumours suggesting either Reiss Nelson or Raheem Sterling could be joining the club. They could provide depth for Alex Iwobi on the left, with Harry Wilson and Sessegnon on the right, and Adama Traore being available on both wings.

Ideally, the winger we bring in should be capable of playing as a striker, to give some support to Rodrigo Muniz and Raul Jimenez. This feels particularly pertinent given how flat we became once Raul was left to be the sole striker for the final weeks of the season.

Bright future

With Premier League stability, we are finally in a position where we can complement our strong mid-table squad with academy players, who Marco can mold into what he needs, without shelling out eight-figure sums on ‘top six’ outcasts. That’s especially helpful for squad building, and our future.

That stability leads to a club of our size and ambition quietly going about its business, and not shouting from the rooftops, because simply, we do not need to. With additions at left-back, central midfield and on the wing (more if the likes of AP and Reed are sold), we could be sitting pretty for a strong European push and cup run this season.

There is an elephant in the room among all this: we wait towards the end of the window to save a pretty penny (not that I agree with the approach), but don’t we have the Mitro and Stansfield money burning a hole in the board’s pockets? Shouldn’t that be increasing our already decent-sized transfer kitty? If the board had loftier ambitions, we could raise the floor of this squad notably, and fly towards Europe, considering how our rivals are all being stripped for parts, but that’s a conversation for another day.

For now, we’re good, we’re solid, and we’re only going to get better, Marco will see to it. Silence isn’t golden, it’s black and white.