Fulham have tabled offers for four centre backs as they scramble to sign players to supplement their meagre senior squad – with Marco Silva admitting the Whites are far from ready for the start of the Premier League season next weekend.
The Cottagers have made both loan and permanent offers for Chelsea defender Malang Sarr as well as increasing their bid for West Ham centre half Issa Diop to £15m. The Hammers are said to be holding out for a different structure to the deal for French defender and would need to sign a replacement given their lack of options due to injuries in the back four. Fulham have also been heavily linked with Fenerbache’s Hungarian international Attila Szalai and are known to have enquired about the availability of Tottenham’s Welsh centre back Joe Rodon as well as Rob Holding of Arsenal.
Silva was brutally honest about the state of his first-team squad following Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Villarreal:
“We, as a squad, we are not ready. I have to tell you, and I don’t want to speak for too much time about the situation, I want to be clear with you; now we have 16 senior players in our squad. No-one competes at this level with 16 senior players in your squad.
I will tell you one more. No-one can prepare for one season with just two central defenders. We have two central defenders at this level. I can continue, and I will not stop, but I don’t want to talk more about it. I’m talking because you ask me.
I’m really happy with this group of players that we have. But everyone that understands football can see we need at least five or six more players. That is clear, if you really want to be competitive. These players need help to be competitive in the training sessions every single day.
We cannot be five weeks into the pre-season with two central defenders. We can’t be competitive in this situation and I can talk more positions as well but this will not help at all.”
The Fulham head coach insisted that he has communicated his frustration with chief executive Alistair Mackintosh and director of football operations Tony Khan – and believes they are working hard to sign new players.
“We are all on the same page. We are all in the same boat. My words are not against anyone. Don’t get confused, don’t start to put that Marco is angry. No. I am being realistic with you like I was yesterday with them and two days ago with them. Of course it is a frustrating situation, definitely. But it’s for them as well because they are trying and they are not getting what we want or the players that we should have here right now.
Of course we are speaking every single day with Alistair and of course speaking every single day with other connections. I am doing my best, they are doing their best as well, but we have to act. As I said last week, and I repeat again, we have to act much faster. Pre-season is to prepare your team for the Premier League. Some players that arrive now, they need four weeks to be ready. They need five weeks to be ready. That is the situation.”
Not looking good !!!.we are in trouble already and facing relegation and can worry Silva may walk !!!!
We have all been over this time and time again.
It’s too late now “to act much faster”.
The season is upon us.
We aren’t ready and, even with the players we have that are proven not to be Premiership quality, an injury here or there can make the outlook even bleaker.
Harry Wilson is a case in point.
Neither Decordova Reid nor Kebano is an adequate replacement.
It’s time for T.Khan to tell us in detail how this situation has come to be.
It may be that he is being held hostage by selling clubs, or players just won’t come to us.
I’m sure there are many legitimate reasons but please share with us to lessen our frustration.
The length of this transfer saga regarding signing Leno is painful and boring,pay the bloody money and get him in,the same applies to Diop.Silva is rightly should have wrapped up deals a good while ago and we are nowhere near ready
The players will turn up. They have to. Its that simple. but dear oh dear. Whoever is in charge of transfers should put their own transfer request in. Not that anyone else will buy them. I think Charles is right in that the fans are owed an understanding of how this pathetic window has got into this state. Unfortunately there is no way we’ll get the truth because the truth is TK is a muppet and that won’t be allowed out by the club.
Isn’t this proof that the transfer window is broken and there is a strong case for it closing 2 weeks before the start of a season. Selling clubs can just hold us to ransom knowing we need players in before the start of the season. There is no rush to sell when over 4 weeks to go on the transfer window.
Our DoF is more concerned with his first love wrestling, Fulham are an nuisance 3000 miles away.
Mr Khan please appoint a capable DoF, CEO and Scout. Silva will take the blame like his predecessors for failure but Tony gets away scot free.
Obviously the devil is in the detail, just because the offers have been made doesn’t mean that they’re acceptable-the usual palaver from Tony Khan I am afraid!
The thing is in any other industry AM & TK would have lost their jobs ages ago, AM is just hanging on and with TK his ego has the better of him. The sooner the these two individuals are gone the better.
The only way they may learn is if we get relegated to league one!
The definition of madness doing the same thing and expecting a different outcome. This is the third promotion and no lessons appear to have been learned, if anything it is more of a shambles this year!
We are likely to have a very poor August and end up needing upwards of 35 points from 33 games as a result
Amateurs!!
I don’t agree that Mr Khan senior is blameless in all this. He is a very successful business man by all accounts, and successful business men do not leave someone in a senior and very important role if they are not up to the job and keep making the same mistakes.
Mr Khan junior is still DOF simply because he is his son. Mr Khan senior would have sacked any other DOF long ago.
But lets not forget that we have the best view of London from the top of the new stand
That statement from Khan Snr sums it up for me. Absolutely clueless.
I just hope two of them are Leah Williamson and Milly Bright!
To be fair I think the Diop deal would have been done and dusted if West Ham hadn’t had injuries to their other CBs. However, can’t understand why the Leno saga is dragging on so long.
We are only doing one way with AM and TK running this circus back to the championship ffs sack the pair of them they have had to many chances and haven’t learned a thing they are a bloody waste of space.
could we say that Shahid Khan has to take a lot of the blame, as well as Tony?
Jaguars have been awful for years, Tony runs them.
We have been awful in the transfer window for years, been relegated twice and unless something changes, it will be a 3rd time. Tony runs us.
Surely Shahid must sit and think “we shouldnt be performing this bad”? Maybe he isnt the ambitious owner we thought/he said he would be.
I appeal to TK now come on the FFCTV or Podcast or Media and tell like a man what’s going on with transfers but if you do don’t lie just tell the truth then maybe just maybe will will believe him but if not then take the blame with your Dad for appointing you and go I am sure there will be numerous people who will drive you to the station you owe to the Fulham Supporters and also new Fulham supporters if there are any,in any job if your incompetent then your sacked maybe on Saturday if We are losing badly we can all go to the top of the new riverside stand and look at the lovely view of London then all turn round and jump in the Thames
Too much impatience here. TK is running the shop like a business. He is looking at the whole season, not just the first game. We have a whole month to sign players and paying premiums to clubs just to get them in early would end up costing heavily. That premium could cost us a major signing, one that can make the difference. Be patient all! The result at the end of the transfer window is what will determine the outcome at the end of season. Well done TK for focussing on quality not quantity. So far!
I agree but that it is well overdue for Fulham to hire a DoF. But, I would guess that many of the people slamming Tony Khan are the same folks who repeatedly bring up TK overspending in the 2018 window need to give him credit for not doing so now. They also need to give him credit for bringing in many of our best players (and signing Mitro a long term deal).TK is not doing the same as before. He’s intent on getting the best deals (because of pressure). I think he’s – like many billionaires – out of touch with reality but he’s no dummy. TruMedia – which he founded – is a big deal in the analytics markets. Yes, let’s get at DOF to run recruitment (and Tony can be the owner with Shad) but let’s stop the ridiculous negatively and fear baiting before the season has even begun. C’mon Fulham.
We are being linked to Bailly again he is another player who has a history of injuries we can’t take a risk on him staying fit we had enough of Kongolo and Mawson, I would rather we were to sign Nat Phillips from Liverpool and Diop from West Ham.