The FFC Rumour Mill: Reigniting Reiss interest and bringing in a back-up keeper?

Jack Stroudley's got all the latest gossip as the Whites look to bring in a familiar face.

Every week, I convince myself that by the time I write the the next instalment of this series, I’ll have plenty of credible sources to discuss. But time and time again, Fulham prove me wrong.

Sammy James and Dan Cooke wrote a brilliant article last week examining how we typically conduct business and whether this is the norm for Fulham. BBC Sport state that Fulham remain calm about the current situation and a focus has been put on ensuring the core of the squad remains together. Nevertheless, while nothing is confirmed, there is still some positive news to come out of the last week, so let’s take a look.

Incomings

BBC Sport was the first to report that Fulham have approached Arsenal around a deal to bring back Reiss Nelson, with a loan being the preferred option. Nelson played 13 times for the Whites last season before a nasty injury in December ended his campaign. Sky and other credible outlets followed this up, so this is certainly to watch. Nelson impressed Marco Silva and personally, I think a loan here makes sense. Arsenal may be more inclined to try and negotiate a permanent deal, but I can’t see Fulham forking out a significant fee for a player with his injury record. Nelson is currently in Singapore with Arsenal for their pre-season tour but this is one that I can see developing over the course of the week.

French journalist Bertrand Queneutte reports that French goalkepper Benjamin Lecomte is expected to arrive in London to finalise a deal. The 34-year-old goalkeeper currently plays for Montpellier and is expected to cost £500,000. While I don’t know too much about him he seems a good fit to be a back-up for Bernd Leno having played a 30 times in Ligue 1 last season and has also had spells at Lorient, Monaco and Espanyol. While I’m not entirely convinced by the source, Fulham have previously been linked with Mat Ryan this summer so a back-up keeper is obviously a position Silva wants to fill. Certainly one to watch.

It’s been contracts galore over the last week at Fulham with two players confirmed and another seemingly close. The first of those to sign officially on the dotted line is club captain Tom Cairney, signing a one-year extension, which will take his time at Fulham to 11 years. This is one that I think all parties will be happy with. TC can still be valuable option for Fulham off the bench and this hopefully gives us enough time to give him a proper send-off at the end of the upcoming campaign.

Bedding old with new, Fulham also confirmed a four-year deal for highly rated midfielder Josh King. King has impressed during his debut season with games against Southampton, Brighton and Brentford being standouts. It’s a piece of business I’m happy we’ve got done early. Fulham have been catalysts of their own downfall in the past with academy contracts losing the likes of Moussa Dembele, Harvey Elliott and Fabio Carvalho for pennies. With Josh King signing this four-year deal, we should be able to demand quite a fee in the coming years if he continues to develop the way that the club feel he will.

Another academy player who is set to sign is Seth Ridgeon, with Jack Kelly being the first to report that a deal is close between the 16-year-old and Fulham amid interest from Manchester United. Sky followed this up by confirming that Fulham are confident that a deal will get done for the youngster. While I won’t claim to know much about Ridgeon, it’s encouraging that Fulham are tying down these prospects to deals especially with top clubs sniffing around them.

Luca Bianchin from Gazzetta dello Sport has reported that Fulham remain interested in AC Milan winger Samuel Chukwueze, but negotiations are yet to take place. Fulham were keen to sign the 26-year-old on deadline day in January but a deal was never reached and while I’m sure that Fulham probably do still hold an interest I’m not sure we will go for both him and Reiss Nelson (albeit Fulham do need two wingers).

Finally, Lucas Arnold reported that Fulham hold an interest in Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Granit Xhaka with Sunderland currently leading the race to sign the Swiss international. The former Bundesliga champions would demand a £10m fee for the 32-year-old whose game time has dwindled in Germany. I’m not buying this one personally, Fulham are looking to bring the average age of the squad down and while we do need another in midfield, I don’t believe the club will be entertaining this.

Outgoings

As mentioned at the top of this article, Fulham are prioritising keeping the squad together so it should come as no surprise that there have been no rumours regarding those departing the club. I think this will be a theme throughout the course of the window, barring those who are going for developmental loans. We’ll probably see some more interest for Andreas Pereira and I could see someone like Issa Diop or Jorge Cuenca demanding interest but personally, I can’t imagine a world where we lose key players.

We don’t look close to signing anyone but it appears we’ve at least put the key in the ignition; we are yet to turn the car on though. The new deals we have seen are essential and helps with the now and future of this club but signings are what we really need to push to the next level. Reiss Nelson is one to certainly keep an eye on and with Fulham heading to Portugal shortly for pre-season, surely we’ll hear something over this week… right?