The FFC Rumour Mill: Raul departs as Slot and McKenna rebuff interest
All the reported ins and outs from another week for manager-less Fulham.
The Marco Silva saga is now firmly behind us - and Fulham need to look to the future for a replacement as well as prepare for what will be a summer of change in SW6.
Tony Khan has had a busy week. He caught a lot of flack on the weekend following an AEW livestream on X, and followed it up with a fascinating chat with our own Jack Kelly on the same platform. During that interview Khan told us not to believe everything we read. But as we all know, there’s no smoke without fire. So, what’s the latest in the Fulham camp?
Incomings
Unsurprisingly, all of the chatter this week is around who will replace Marco Silva, with Fulham seemingly slow to react to his departure.
Bookies favourite Kieran McKenna won’t be taking over at Fulham, according to Sky Sports, despite announcing he will be leaving Ipswich Town, the Northern Irishman has said he wants to take some time away from management.
It looks like Alvaro Arbeloa is a leading candidate now, so says David Ornstein of the Athletic. It’s fair to say the former Liverpool right-back endured a torrid time at the Bernabeu, and while I can’t say I know too much about his management style, just because it didn’t work out at Real Madrid doesn’t mean it wouldn’t at Fulham.
Gary Jacobs from the Times has reported that the Whites approached former Liverpool manager Arne Slot, but were rejected by the Dutch manager. Thomas Frank was the second favourite according to bookies at 3/1, but he’s ruled himself out of both the Fulham and Crystal Palace jobs, according to Sky Sports.
Following the McKenna and Arbeloa bombas, Ben Jacobs has claimed that Fulham are assessing several options including Frank Lampard, Ruben Amorim, former Fulham coach Hugo Oliveira and Palmeiras coach Abel Ferreira. Another name not mentioned (but I think is worth talking about) is Pochettino. During Tony Khan’s interview with JK earlier this week, our Director of Football couldn’t mask his subtle smirk when asked about the Argentine. Make of that what you will…
On the playing front (traditionally what this weekly article is meant to be about!), sources in Africa are reporting that Fulham and Nottingham Forest hold an interest in Ghanaian (and former Fulham) defender Jerome Opoku.
Outgoings
The biggest outgoing news this week comes in the form of contract renewals, with Raul Jimenez’s contract expiring at the end of June and the Mexican’s departure from the club being confirmed. He’s since returned to Wolves and I think it’s safe to say we all wish him the best. His exit was to be expected and leaves Fulham even shorter in the forward department.
The post on the official website also reports that an offer is on the table for Harry Wilson. But he has offers from other clubs, according to reports in Portugal, with Benfica trying to convince the Welshman to join Marco Silva in Lisbon.
Another player offered a new deal is youngster Sam Amissah who after poor treatment from Marco this season may be looking for a move away and according to reports in North London, Arsenal may look to snap up the full-back on a free.
Benfica’s raid of Fulham doesn’t stop with Harry, as it seems Jorge Cuenca may be following suit and joining Silva at the world’s largest club by membership for a fee of €15m, according to reports in Portugal. These rumours were shut down by Tony Khan when asked by JK earlier this week who claimed “we have not heard anything from Benfica.”
It’s going to be a big transition for Fulham this summer and it’s been a (as expected) slow start with no real news about a new manager and more names seemingly heading for the exit door.
Hopefully the Khans pull the finger out ahead of next week’s rumour mill.