The FFC Rumour Mill: Kevin talks progress as Muniz saga rumbles on
Jack Stroudley looks through all the latest transfer talk at Fulham.
Well, we are truly in the thick of it with the transfer window closing in just two weeks and the Premier League up and running with Fulham picking up a dramatic point in the south coast on Saturday with the goalscorer at the height of all things Fulham over the past week, Marco Silva calling the club “passive” and Kevin at the forefront of a “will he, won’t he?” saga, what else has been happening on SW6?
Incomings
Fulham have had two bids officially rejected for Shakhtar Donetsk winger Kevin, with the Ukrainian side insisting on a €50m fee according to Fabrizio Romano. Romano has also claimed that Kevin wants the move and Fulham will meet for talks in the coming week. This one has serious legs on it and feels like our marquee signing of the summer with the fees being reported, with the two parties meeting this week, I’d certainly keep close tabs on this one.
With all the talk over a certain Brazilian striker leaving (we’ll get to that) strikers have started being touted with a move to Fulham. The Guardian reported that Fulham holds an interest in both Rasmus Hojlund and Richarlison, with sources in Iran claiming that Fulham is in talks with Mehdi Taremi, hoping he will take a pay cut to join Fulham.
All of these reports timing seem to be convenient given the Muniz saga so I wouldn’t take any of them seriously. Given his good start at Spurs this season, I don’t see them wanting to sell Richarlison. Hojlund I could see more interest given the arrival of Benjamin Sesko, but I don’t envisage us paying the type of fee Manchester United will want. Taremi is an interesting one as his name has continued to crop up and with Leeds now signing Calvert-Lewin and us looking for a third striker on a cheap, this could happen.
Finally, a good find on X (Twitter) from @Fulham09 that the Telegraph have reported that Fulham were in for Jack Grealish, but the former Manchester City man chose Everto . If I was to make an assumption, Fulham didn’t want to include a £50m option after his loan this season, whereas Everton were more inclined to do so.
Outgoings
Right then, strap in because a lot has happened this week regarding Rodrigo Muniz so I’ll try my best to paint a picture of where we are. Peter Rutzler reported on Tuesday that Fulham had rejected a £34.5m bid from Atalanta for the Brazilian forward with the Fulham hierarchy wanting north of £40m. Fabrizio Romano then reported on Wednesday that Atalanta are confident that the deal will get done with Muniz keen on the move to the Serie A and to therefore play Champions League football.
Fulhamish’s Jack Kelly then reported on Wednesday that Muniz had said his goodbyes to everyone at the club while Sam Tabuteau at Standard Sport claimed that club talks hadn’t occurred and Fulham wouldn’t sell unless a replacement was found. To then make it more confusing, Andreas Pereira posted a cryptic photo on Instagram of him and Muniz with the caption “se queda” which caused a hilarious meltdown on X with fans working out if he meant the Spanish or Portuguese interpretation! To put the cherry on top, Muniz then scored our 96th minute equaliser at Brighton!
I honestly have no idea what way this is going to go. Muniz obviously will be interested by both Champions League football and getting a pay packet that he thoroughly deserves. That being said, I can’t see Fulham selling at this stage of the window when we are still light on a few areas as is, just give him a new deal.
Well that’s another week done and dusted and while we are still yet to sign anyone other than Benjamin Lecomte it’s certainly been the most dramatic week of the window so far and with the deadline fast approaching surely things will continue to heat up. Kevin and Muniz talks will rumble on this week with conclusions for both surely on the horizon - let’s see.