The FFC Rumour Mill: Will Silva stay or go?
Jack Stroudley gives us the first weekly rumour round-up of the summer.
It’s that time of year again: buckle up for three months of rumours that more than likely won’t turn into anything, as fans are pleading with the board to sign some players!
The rumour mill is dusting itself off a bit earlier than usual this year due to the current ongoings with Marco Silva, but there have been a few early whisperings regarding incomings as well as (what seems like) daily updates regarding a few potential key departures.
Incomings
You’ll be as surprised as me to hear that there have been a couple of early rumours to sink our teeth into over the past few weeks. Chances are, none of these will actually happen, and the real interest in this article comes in the outgoings, but humour me at least!
Sky Sports Germany has reported that Fulham are one of a number of Premier League clubs to scout Southampton winger Leo Scienza following a good year in the Championship. The 27 year old managed seven goals and 10 assists and, while he doesn’t have a release clause, is wanted by clubs both in England and the remainder of Europe.
Sticking with the forward theme, Pete O’Rourke from Sky has claimed that both Fulham and Coventry City are interested in Union Berlin forward Andrej Ilic and looking a bit closer to home, Italian reporter Marco Mampreso reported last week that West Ham forward Taty Castellanos would like to stay in the Premier League following the Irons now confirmed relegation with Fulham interested.
Finally, Fulham are one of a number of teams interested in Hayden Hackney as per TeamTalk. This is a rumour we’ve seen before and I’m not surprised has cropped up again. I’d be all over this.
Outgoings
Now the part I’m sure you’re far more interested in: what on earth is going on with Marco Silva?
There are a lot of moving parts to this with Real Madrid and Jose Mourinho playing a big factor. Effectively, if Mourinho goes back to Spain, it looks likely that Silva will take the Benfica job. That being said, Jose to Madrid isn’t a done deal yet.
Real Madrid will delay their appointment of Jose Mourinho as they are currently undergoing their presidential elections, which won’t be decided until 9 June. If Jose were to leave, there were some suggestions that former Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim would be a leading contender, but those reports have been shut down by Ben Jacobs, who suggests that is unlikely.
Looking at Silva, as you would expect there are conflicting reports. Sacha Tavolieri reported that this was a done deal last Thursday with an announcement in the “coming days” while SportWitness claims that Fulham are effectively throwing the kitchen sink at Silva to convince him to stay with a lucrative four-year deal and a larger transfer budget this summer for a much-needed squad refresh.
Silva is keeping quiet about the whole situation, and said before Sunday’s game against Newcastle that he only has one offer on the table (Fulham) and a decision is to be made this week and was very cryptic post-match suggesting that “it doesn’t feel like goodbye.”
So, that’s where we are currently. Personally, I’d say this one feels inevitable with the Silva project seemingly reaching its conclusion in slightly bitter fashion. It really is a shame we didn’t know prior to Newcastle to give him a proper send off, but that’s football I guess. I think the opportunity to move to a side playing in Europe and return to Portugal, managing one of their most historic clubs, is an offer he won’t refuse.
Elsewhere, Harry Wilson is another who we are still unsure about. I think he’s off as well, and Sky are reporting that Everton and Aston Villa both remain interested in the Welsh international.
Strap in - it’s about to get wild.