The FFC Rumour Mill: Issa Diop is out - is Gonzalo Garcia in?
Jack Stroudley looks at all the latest Fulham rumours.
We’re now two weeks into Alvaro Arbeloa’s tenure and things are starting to bubble at SW6.
AA spoke to FFCTV about his desire to bring players in early; there have been rumours but a lack of ‘here we go’ so far. But there are some talking points from the last week - let’s take a look.
Incomings
Finally, a bomba.
The Athletic’s Real Madrid correspondent, Mario Cortegana, says that the Whites are moving ahead in their pursuit of Madrid striker Gonzalo Garcia with Arbeloa keen and Jose Mourinho unable to provide the 22 year old assurances about his playing time. Madrid would retain preferential rights over his future if the deal goes through.
We’ve spoke about Chibuike Nwaiwu for a couple of weeks now, but this is starting to feel like it has legs.
SkySports Austria reported that a deal between the Nigerian defender and Fulham was nearing completion - but this has yet to be confirmed by sources in England. The one source that is going heavy on this is FulhamTransfer, who confirmed on Monday that the deal was nearing completion after payments and instalments were agreed. Turkish outlets corroborated this, with an initial fee of €8m to €10m and a 10% to 15% sell-on fee.
This is a rumour that won’t go away and while I’m struggling to believe the individual sources, the collective knocking on the door of this rumour means there must be some truth in it. Nwaiwu has helped that cause by constantly liking Fulham’s social media posts, but I won’t be calling this one a goer until we get a top-tier source based in the UK.
Looking a bit further forward, reports that Fulham are pushing forward with moves for Real Madrid duo Franco Mastantuono and the previously mentioned Gonzalo Garcia. Reports in Spain on Wednesday indicate that talks are ongoing for both. Mastantuono would be on loan with Fulham wanting an option on the deal, Madrid however don’t want an option to be included as they value him as a key player for the future.
FulhamTransfer also reports that Fulham hold an interest in USMNT forward Folarin Balogun, but there is uncertainty around if we will pay the £40m valuation. Other English outlets had suggested that Sunderland are also interested in Balogun, but Sky squashed those rumours.
Circling back to Real Madrid, reports in Spain have claimed that Alvaro Arbeloa is interested in midfielder Cesar Palacios. The same report also claims that despite this interest, Fulham haven’t contacted Madrid about the 21 year old and Italian side Como is in the front seat to sign Palacios.
There seems to be a development with Fulham target Shea Charles with reports on Tuesday night that we are “preparing” a £24m bid for the Southampton midfielder as we look to pip Leeds to the signing of the 22-year-old. Reports in Yorkshire on Wednesday indicate that Daniel Farke’s side have cooled interest on Charles leaving a clear path for Fulham.
BBC have reported that Fulham hold an interest in re-signing Reiss Nelson from Arsenal. I really hope this isn’t true; I liked Nelson at Fulham but he had a torrid time of it at Brentford. Yes his stock is low and as a back-up it wouldn’t be terrible - but I really think this ship has sailed.
Finally, academy graduate Sam Amissah has signed a new deal at the club amid interest from Arsenal.
Outgoings
One rumour that’s come to fruition is Issa Diop heading to newly-promoted Ipswich Town. The deal was announced on Wednesday, bringing the curtain down on four years at the club for the Moroccan centre-back.
I’ve seen differing opinions online about this so naturally, I’ll give my two pence. Diop was better than Andersen last season, but we need to start selling players with a year or longer left on their deal from a financial point of view and getting around £8m back for someone who turns 30 in January isn’t bad business. Diop has been fantastic for us, and he will be for Ipswich.
Sander Berge to Manchester United is a rumour that won’t go away, with TeamTalk reporting that the Norwegian is seen as a serious target by Michael Carrick’s side. Berge could be available for less than £40m.
Finally, Alfie McNally’s loan to York City has been confirmed by the League Two side.