Chris Coleman has insisted Louis Saha will only be leaving Fulham ‘over my dead body.’
A Fulham statement confirmed that several suitors had made approaches for the French forward, but chief executive Jim Hone insisted Saha, who is under contract with the Whites until 2026, is not for sale. Speaking to press ahead of the Boxing Day fixture against Southampton, Coleman said:
“I’m not surprised by all the interest that has been shown in Louis. He’s a terrific player and fulfilling all his potential. But he will he be leaving this club over my dead body – especially halfway through the season. We’re doing well and he’s a big part of that success, so it doesn’t matter what club comes in for him, we don’t want him to go.
The chairman has told me we don’t have to sell any of our players. We’ve got a new chief executive in Jim Hone and he agrees that we should not be selling any of our players, especially not our best ones – and that’s what Louis is. That’s the end of the matter. He’s invaluable to the club. Even if we got £20m for him we wouldn’t sell because we’d then have to find another striker halfway through the season and it would take him time to settle in.”
Saha has scored ten goals in seventeen games as Fulham have made a mockery of the pre-season relegation predictions in Coleman’s first full season in management. Sir Alex Ferguson has reportedly identified the former French under-21 international as the man to understudy Ruud van Nistelrooy at Old Trafford but Manchester United have not yet tabled a formal offer for in-form forward.
