Monday Fulham Stuff - 04/08/25...

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Blades beat Fulham
Sheffield United came from 2-0 down to beat Fulham 3-2 in a training game at Motspur Park.

The two teams agreed to play 120 minutes whatever the score in a match hastily arranged following Fulham's pre-season tour of Portugal. The Premier League outfit went ahead after a quarter of an hour when Emile Smith Rowe conjured up a curler after a brilliant backheel from Ryan Sessegnon. But the Blades were level twelve minutes later when Tom Cannon converted a penalty after Louie Barry had been brought down in the box.

Marco Silva's peppered Alex Davies' goal with shots after the interval, with the United goalkeeper producing a pair of sensational saves before Raul Jimenez restored Fulham's advantage by glancing home a header from Andreas Pereira's corner. Jorge Cuenca and Alex Iwobi hit the woodwork as the Whites sought to put the game beyond their Championship opposition.

They paid the penalty right on full time when Barry scored from the spot after Callum O'Hare been taken out. Four minutes from the end of extra time, Callum O'Hare fired into the roof of the net after Fulham overplayed at back. Martial Godo hit the woodwork as Silva's side ought salvation.season run coming to an end.



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2025/08/blades-beat-fulham/

[WhiteJC]

Kayden Sessegnon
Born: Roehampton, 11 July 2010

Position: Centre forward

Fifteen year-old Kayden, the nephew of Ryan and Steven, is an intelligent forward who has come through the club's academy pathway. He has been making waves in Fulham and England's age group sides for a while and made his first appearance for the club's under-18s in a pre-season friendly against Millwall in August 2025.



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2025/08/kayden-sessegnon/

[WhiteJC]

U18s held by Millwall
Fulham's under-18s were held to a goalless draw by Millwall in their final pre-season friendly at a scorching Motspur Park this afternoon.

The young Whites struggled to make much of an impact in the first half, with Ollie Mayer tipping over a Millwall effort that looked set to nestle in the corner. The Lions went close with another effort that flew fractionally wide from the edge of the box. William Sutton-Bangura had a shot bravely blocked at source before Tarrell Cavell had a goal correctly ruled out for offside right on half-time after Logan Cooke had mistimed his run from Marcus Hall's free-kick.

Ali Melloul's men were much more fluent in the second period as they rung the changes. Dylan De-Gale's left-footed effort didn't have quite enough bend on it to open the scoring and Quinn Schutter slammed a shot over the bar. Kayden Sessegnon, the 15 year-old nephew of Ryan and Steven, made his first under-18s appearance from the bench and led the line with the intelligence that has characterised his England age-group appearances but Fulham couldn't force a winner.

Schutter had the best chance with time ticking away but was thwarted by the Millwall goalkeeper after the visitors had failed to deal with Hall's free-kick. The under-18s kick off their league campaign at Leicester City next Saturday lunchtime.

FULHAM UNDER 18s (4-2-3-1): Mayer (Cech 45); Oluyemmi, Hall, Cooke (Faux 60), Cliff (Schutter 60); Khan, Gomins (Trialist A 60); Cavell, Evans (De-Gale 45), Sutton-Bangura (Trialist B 60); Lubega (K. Sessegnon 60).



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2025/08/u18s-held-by-millwall/

[WhiteJC]

Exclusive: Euro Giants Distance Themselves From Move to Sign £25m Fulham Star
Fulham star Sander Berge won't be on his way to Juventus in the coming months, GIVEMESPORT sources can reveal - with the Cottagers star having been touted for a move to the Serie A giants after impressive form in the Premier League.

GIVEMESPORT sources have revealed that Juventus are distancing themselves from a move that would see Berge move to Turin from London, having been linked with the Norwegian star in recent weeks. Finishing fourth in Serie A was enough to award them a place in next season's Champions League, and a move for Berge to join their ranks was seemingly on the cards in a move for Igor Tudor to bolster his squad.

Sources: Juventus Won't Move for Sander Berge, Other Targets Preferred
The Norwegian had been touted for a move to the Allianz Stadium
The Old Lady are looking to offload Douglas Luiz from their ranks after a sub-par debut campaign in Italy, with Everton in particular showing an interest in the Brazilian star to come into their midfield ranks and end his Mediterranean nightmare. That saw them touted to move for Berge, who has enjoyed a decent season at Craven Cottage following his £25million move from Burnley last summer.

Sander Berge's Premier League statistics - Fulham squad ranking

Stats	Output	Squad rank
Appearances	31	=9th
Average Passes Per Game	38.4	5th
Tackles Per Game	1.6	6th
Interceptions Per Game	0.7	6th
Match rating	6.50	17th

Sources have confirmed that there has been an expectation that an offer could arrive for Marco Silva's midfielder, despite his solo campaign on the River Thames - though sources in Turin have now played down any expectation of a move, and that there are now other plans in place to sign alternative midfielders instead of the Norwegian giant.

Berge, 27, moved to England in 2020 when he joined Sheffield United from Belgian Pro League side Genk, spending one-and-a-half years in the top-flight before relegation to the Championship. However, upon winning a place back in the Premier League with the Blades, he moved to fellow promoted side Burnley in a cut-price deal, where he massively impressed in Vincent Kompany's midfield before joining Fulham.

31 appearances last season saw him become a natural replacement for Joao Palhinha, and his passing, height, dribbling ability and calmness on the ball make it easy to see why a Champions League side would be interested. However, any move now doesn't appear to be happening, and Fulham can look forward to having him in a star-studded midfield alongside Andreas Pereira, Emile Smith Rowe and Sasa Lukic.

Statistics courtesy of WhoScored. Correct as of 03-08-25.



https://www.givemesport.com/exclusive-euro-giants-distance-themselves-from-move-to-sign-25m-fulham-star/

[WhiteJC]

No pandemonium this time for Dier as he is held by ex-Fulham defender-turned-coach in Amsterdam
AFC Ajax 2-2 AS Monaco

Goals: Taylor 29' (Ajax),  Biereth 34' (Monaco) , Minamino 65' (Monaco),  Traoré 87' Ajax)

There was no happy ending this time on Eric Dier's return to Amsterdam as John Heitinga's spirited Ajax side snatched a draw from the jaws of defeat against AS Monaco through Bertrand Traoré.

Six years on from Lucas Moura's epic hat-trick that saw Tottenham Hotspur seal a place in the Champions League final after overturning a 2-0 deficit, Dier came within a whisker of being dealt a taste of his own medicine.

But Chelsea flop Traoré', whose strike may have avoided defeat, missed back-to-back chances to win it late on to leave the Ajax fans with a bittersweet taste in their mouth heading for the Bijlmer Arena metro station.

Kenneth Taylor gave the Amsterdammers the lead against the run of play seconds before the half-hour mark after playing a one-two with Davy Klaassen.

Prior to that, ex-Arsenal acadamy graduate Folarin Balogun failed to find the back of the net after being slipped in on goal by Aleksandr Golovin.

Yet if took Monaco only five minutes to be back on terms through a tap-in from Danish striker sensation Mika Biereth.

Monaco were in command as they played cat and mouse with Ajax either side of half-time. Yet they failed to deliver practice what they knew in theory.

Their high-octane pressing game and pacy transition style failed to yield the goods until the 65th minute when Takumi Minamino got on the end of Teze's delivery.

There was an acceptance among the Ajax fan base that this wasn't their day. Days after being on the end of a 3-0 mauling in Como, their confidence looked to take another hit.

And Traoré's late leveller takes nothing away from the fact that this club is still in transition and in for a complicated campaign unless they add some much-needed star quality to their ranks.

It goes without saying that a win would have certainly papered over the tracks.

Failure to wrap up the Eredivisie title despite a commanding lead in spring needs time to move on from.

And one week to go before kicking off their Eredivisie campaign against Telstar, Heitinga could do with at least one centre-back.

Borussia Mönchengladbach's Ko Itakura is in talks with the four-time European Cup winners.

And his arrival would be manna from heaven for the former Fulham defender who knows a thing or two about rocksolid defending having been a respectable no-nonsense centre-back himself back in the day.

While Dier, who was an unused substitute on that famous night, has known no such pandemonium this time around. 



https://www.capitalfootball.co.uk/single-post/no-pandemonium-this-time-for-dier-as-he-is-held-by-ex-fulham-defender-turned-coach-in-amsterdam

[WhiteJC]

Tottenham confirm Joao Palhinha loan signing from Bayern Munich with £26m buy option as ex-Fulham midfielder returns to Premier League after just one season
Tottenham have announced the season-long loan signing of Joao Palhinha from Bayern Munich.

    Palhinha joins Tottenham on loan
    Spurs have £26m buy option
    Could be end of Bayern career

WHAT HAPPENED?

Spurs have secured the services of the former Fulham midfielder for the 2025-26 campaign, plus they have an option to sign the 30-year-old permanently next summer for a reported £26m ($34.5m). The Portugal international is back in the Premier League after just one full season on Bayern's books.

https://x.com/SpursOfficial/status/1952082669199581410

WHAT BAYERN SAID

Bayern board member for sport, Max Eberl, said they have found the "best solution" for Palhinha after not getting as much game time as he would have wanted last term.

He told the club's website: "João Palhinha, unfortunately, didn't get the game time he hoped for at FC Bayern last season. We've found the best solution for all sides with Tottenham Hotspur. João can have a whole season at top European level there. We wish him all the best for the year ahead."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Palhinha joined Bayern just over a year ago for a fee worth up to £47.4m ($63m) but the experienced midfielder is back in the Premier League after failing to make his mark at the Bundesliga outfit. He made 25 appearances in all competitions last season but just 10 of those were starts as he struggled to tie down a regular spot in Vincent Kompany's side. Despite that, he is still a quality operator and should add more solidity to Spurs' midfield.

WHAT NEXT?

The former Sporting CP man could even face his parent club Bayern when Tottenham take on the Bavarian outfit in a pre-season friendly at the Allianz Arena on Thursday. This fixture will also see Spurs icon Harry Kane and summer signing Mathys Tel cross paths again.



https://www.goal.com/en-gb/lists/tottenham-confirm-joao-palhinha-loan-signing-from-bayern-munich-with-gbp26m-buy-option-as-ex-fulham-/blt6019dda1a53db6b3?utm_id=fa3iys5y8hyz9ezk&utm_source_platform=newsnow#cs822efb9cb4f7a823