The FFC Rumour Mill: Cuenca set to leave?
Jack Stroudley looks at the ins and outs over the past week.
It’s another week where tumbleweed appears to have descended upon Motspur Park; the players returned for pre-season on Sunday with a squad that you’d imagine Marco Silva isn’t particularly pleased with. No incomings, confusion around the future of Tom Cairney (apart from the fact he was at Wimbledon on Sunday!) and nothing appearing to be close in the transfer market, the most positive piece of news is the confirmation that Luc De Fougerolles has signed a new four-year-deal. Fulham are often late starters and are usually quite good at keeping things quiet until a deal is almost agreed, but that doesn’t mean it’s not frustrating. Nevertheless, here are the ins and outs of the last week.
Incomings
According to Sky Sports, Fulham are amongst the Premier League clubs interested in Middlesborough midfielder Hayden Hackney with Everton, Brentford, West Ham and Crystal Palace all also interested in the 23-year-old. The Englishman featured in the recent U21 European Championships with the Championship side valuing Hackney around £25m. I think Hackney is the type of player that would improve our midfield options and I’m not surprised that lots of clubs are touted for him. I’m not entirely sure this one will progress further than interest due to the valuation for what would be a squad player. The fact this is the most ‘credible’ incoming of the week, sums up how the transfer window has gone so far to be frank!
Sky Sports have also reported that Fulham and Brentford alongside a host of Bundesliga clubs hold an interest in Middlesborough midfield Rav van den Berg. The 21-year-old has impressed during his time in the Championship, is this anything more than a rumour? I’m not convinced.
Gazzetta dello Sport have reported that Fulham are leading the race to sign Inter Milan forward Mehdi Taremi with the Italian side reportedly willing to let the 32-year-old go on a free transfer. Sky Italy have also suggested that Fulham may look to get this deal sorted in the coming week. This is a rumour that keeps persisting so there must be some legs to it and with the option of bringing in a third striker on a free, it’s certainly one the club could be tempted by.
Sebastien Vidal reported late last week that Borussia Dortmund lead the race to sign Manchester City midfielder James McAtee with Fulham allegedly also interested. McAtee is valued at £20m by Manchester City and again it’s one I’m not sure will go further than a rumour with Fabrizio Romano also reporting that McAtee has travelled to Frankfurt over a potential deal.
Outgoings
Portuguese paper O Jago has claimed that Jorge Cuenca is likely to leave Fulham before his contract expires in 2028 due to being disappointed at his lack of Premier League game time. As reported last week, Benfica hold an interest in the Spaniard but their interest is dependent upon the future of their highly-regarded central defender Antonio Silva with a loan being their preferred option for Cuenca. I spoke on this last week so will briefly summaries that Cuenca’s a very capable player and will want to play more, will he get in over Bassey? I don’t think so and a move away could be something that intrigues him.
The Athletic have reported that Manchester United are in talks to sign 16-year-old Seth Ridgeon from the Fulham academy. Normally I wouldn’t delve into the ins and outs of youth players leaving but Ridgeon is someone that is highly regarded at Fulham and him leaving would be a damming statement of how our academy is run and the lack of pathway for players to come into the first team.
Devan Tanton has re-joined Chesterfield on loan for the upcoming season after his spell there in the last campaign was cut short due to injury. The 21-year-old full-back is highly regarded so a loan move here makes perfect sense for all parties to ensure he’s getting adequate gametime. Tanton is certainly one to watch and with an aging Tete and Castagne he’s a player who could have a pathway into the first team in the coming years.
Academy grad Adrion Pajaziti has left the club following loan spells at Haugesund and HNK Gorica and has signed permanently for Croatian side Hadjuk Split. The Albanian international has struggled to get into the Fulham fold and ensuring we get a fee (even if minimal) is good business from Fulham for a player who I think has run his course in SW6.
Sky Sports have reported that Derby, Charlton and Birmingham are all interested in Luke Harris. The Welsh midfielder has one year left on his current contract with an option of another. The 20-year-old featured 29 times for Birmingham last season in League One so the Championship feels like the next step for him. I don’t quite think he’s good enough to make a claim for himself in this Fulham side so while a loan is likely it wouldn’t shock me if a permanent deal is agreed given how long he has left on his contract.
Well another week has passed and Fulham have done… nothing! As mentioned at the top of this article we are notoriously late starters and deals are often kept quiet until the very last second. With the squad now back in for pre-season and jetting off to Portugal later this month you’d imagine that Silva will be more keen than ever to get the ball rolling so hopefully we’ll see more news in the coming week, fingers crossed.