Fulham are considering a loan deal for Atletico Madrid striker Lucas Vietto, according to a Daily Mail report this afternoon.
The Whites have been offered the chance to sign the Argentinian forward on a season-long loan deal, which could help facilitate the departure of Rui Fonte to Olympiakos. The 24 year-old has struggled to fit in at Atleti after starring for Villareal and was farmed out to Valencia last season.
Vietto was handed his professional breakthrough by current Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone, when the former Argentina midfielder was in charge of Racing Club. He scored 18 times in 63 appearances as a teenager and earned a 5.5m move to Villareal, where he scored 20 goals in a single season – and was named La Liga’s player of the month in December 2014. Vietto has struggled for game time at Atleti, despite being under Simeone’s wing again, scoring three times in 20 first-team appearances.
He impressed in a pre-season outing against Arsenal, where he was named man of the match in a 1-1 draw, and Fulham may view him as useful back up for Aleksandar Mitrovic. If Fonte is set to leave for Greece, as has been rumoured this evening, adding to Fulham’s attacking resources will be essential ahead of tonight’s 5pm transfer deadline. At the moment, only Aboubakar Kamara, Neeskens Kebano and the injured Floyd Ayite exist in the first-team squad as plausible options up front.
