Fulham have told Atalanta that Rodrigo Muniz is not for sale, according to Sky Italia’s Gianluca di Marzio.
The Serie A side had made the Brazilian striker their top target to replace Mateo Retegui after he left Bergamo for Al-Qadsiah in a record-breaking £56m deal. Atalanta’s chief executive officer Luca Percassi flew to London in an attempt to broker a deal to sign Muniz, but he was told by Alistair Mackintosh that the Whites are not considering selling the former Flamengo forward. Fulham have rejected bids from Leeds United and Tottenham Hotspur for the 24 year-old already this summer and given Newcastle United’s interest short shrift.
Fulham believe they are in a strong negotiating position with Muniz having another year on his current contract, plus a club option for a further twelve months. Muniz has a strong relationship with Marco Silva, who brought him to England, and has not asked to leave Craven Cottage. He may well start Fulham’s opening game of the Premier League season at Brighton and Hove Albion after Raul Jimenez’s Gold Cup winning summer with Mexico.
Whilst Di Marzio’s report suggests Atalanta might continue, it now also introduces a new name alongside Crystal Palace’s Jean-Philipe Mateta as a potential target; the Leece centre forward Nikola Krstovic.
If true the first bit of good news in the transfer market Muniz is young and the clubs future rather than the over 30 brigade.. We still need a couple of new players but that will not happen until hours before the transfer window closes In the meantime we have Brighton, Manchester United and Chelsea to lay and in all honestly I cannot see us getting many if any points from those 3 matches
Even if we don’t buy any new players I’m quietly optimistic about our forthcoming season, mainly because we haven’t sold any of the bigger names. We finally have our own youth players coming through, this is very important as they are now more likely to stay for senior game time. We will sign two or three layers close to the end of the window when selling clubs lower their demands, I liken it to a game of chicken, seeing who’s going to blink first. My only real concern is MS’s position, having come out with a statement about ‘many new signings before the new season’. Was he trying to put pressure on the board? If so all may not be happy behind the scenes.