Fulham have signed a youth development cooperation agreement with Croatian club HNK Gorica.
Negotiations between representatives from both clubs were concluded last week and the formal agreement was signed at Craven Cottage by Fulham academy head of football development Huw Jennings and Gorica president Nenad Crnko before last Wednesday night’s fixture against Peterborough.
Crnko told the Croatian press that the deal includes ‘professional cooperation, joint marketing and the exchange of information around player development, scouting and possible player exchanges between both clubs’. The news follows a similar link up between Fulham and Dundee United’s youth set-ups, which was announced in January.
Gorica, widely regarded as the successor side to NK Radnik who went bust in 2009, have established themselves in the Croatian top flight after years in the lower leagues, finishing fifth in their first season back in the big time. Their recent success has been the result of the cultivation of cheap foreign talent, most notably Nigerian forward Iyar Atiemwen, who was sold to Dinamo Zagreb for a club record fee.
