My take on the Dembélé situation

[Whitewash]

The situations regarding Dempsey and Dembélé are clearly similar in the sense that both players have one year left on their contracts and neither have indicated, thus far, a willingness to sign a new deal. Curiously, however, Jol has previously indicated that he would perhaps look to sell Clint if he rejected a new deal, whereas he seems to have no intention of doing the same with Dembélé. I know some people have suggested that Jol may be willing to sell one of the pair and lose another on a free next summer, but I struggle to believe that a club with such a reputation for financial prudence would be willing to lose for free an asset worth, say, £15-20M. Therefore, I think the following is very possible:

Jol has spoken to Dembélé (who has, let's not forget, spoken about his happiness at Fulham under Jol) and told him that in return for the club considering reasonable offers for him before the transfer window closes he must agree to sign a new deal after te window closes if he has not been sold - perhaps a deal with a reasonable release clause, but nevertheless a deal which gives Dembélé a large pay rise and protects the club from losing him for free. If this is correct, I would expect to see Dembélé sign a new deal (which is rumoured to be on the table and has not apparently yet been rejected) after the window closes, if of course he is still at the club.

Does anybody else think this may be the case, or are there any alternative views?

[alexbishop]

You'd like to think the club is this smart and that what you have stated is indeed the case however I often think with Fulham the worst is probably the case. I.e. we haven't got round to dealing with Moussa's contract yet.

That said, maybe there's a 1 yr extension option on his contract we intend to enforce? Who bloody knows...

[Whitewash]

You'd like to think the club is this smart and that what you have stated is indeed the case however I often think with Fulham the worst is probably the case. I.e. we haven't got round to dealing with Moussa's contract yet.

That said, maybe there's a 1 yr extension option on his contract we intend to enforce? Who bloody knows...

Has Jol not said that Dembélé can walk for nothing next summer?

[cebu]

Dembele is almost certainly using Fulham as a stepping stone in his career. I think there is no chance of getting him to sign a new contract with us, so it's up to MAF/Mac to decide which hurts us the least, i.e. cashing in now or letting him walk for free next summer.

[BarryP]

If ever Fulham were going to sell Dembele and get a premium on him it is after that match.  If he could have scored on some of those runs we would have called it a Messi like performace the way he danced around United players.  I said it before and I will say it again, Dembele was better than every United player today with the only possible exception being Kagawa but for my money it was Dembele because he had to do it against United. I am not saying I want him gone but I won't be surprised if he is before Fulham suit up again. If he isn't sold now I don't believe Fulham will receive any compensation for him and he will walk on a free next summer.

[Robbie]

MOTD was certainly tee-ing up a move. Reality is we are a selling club, get the best £££ we can now..

[VicHalomsLovechild]

Whatever the situation regarding Demps and Dembele and lets face it we never will. Lets look at the positives and not the negatives.

We've been lucky enough to watch Dembele for two years in a Fulham shirt. If he's goes in the next week the club will recoup it's outlay and some. Which hopefully will go towards investing in another quality player. That has to be a better outcome than other investments the club has made. Say Eddie Johnson for instance, nothing against EJ but that particular deal didn't work out for either party did it.

Ambition is one thing but it's tied to fiscal prudence. Supposedly the club couldn't afford Mark Hughes's ambition. Which I'm kind of happy about. We got Jol and the beginning of a youth revolution, QPR have inherited a scatter gun transfer policy that history (Portsmouth and Leeds) shows us is a dangerous path to tread.

If we manage to hold onto him and Dempsey returns to the fold. We'll no doubt get goals and possibly a better league position and maybe a good cup run. Which is financially better for the club and ups our profile to potential fans and players.

Neither scenario is bad for the Club, the players in question or us frankly.

     

 

[Berserker]

I've got a really strong feeling that we will hold on to Dembele, it may only be until January but I don't think he will go this week

[Me-ate-Live, innit??]

There doesn't appear to be a  Dembélé situation does there ??????  It seems club, player and agent are singing from the same Hymn sheet
................. whatever that may be. 

That is what is so flummoxing about the Dempsey Situation....................... now THAT is a situation !

[Max Headroom]

I have woken up this morning depressed... I think that yesterday could be his last game for us, and I will be absolutely gutted when he goes.

The only saving grace of him going is that he doesn't contribute to that many goals, but every team needs someone whose passes always reach their target!