Tuesday Fulham News 07/06/2016

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Blackburn Not Willing to Sell Fulham Target



Blackburn Not Willing to Sell Fulham Target

In the last couple of weeks, if my memory serves me correct, we`ve run a couple of articles on Fulham`s interest in the Blackburn defender Grant Hanley.

The latest suggested that Fulham had offered the Lancashire club £1.5 million for the player.

But the local media, in particular Get West London, are inferring that Blackburn are 'playing hardball` with regards to letting their club captain go.

With the player still having two years left on his current contract, Blackburn Rovers are quite right to fend off any interest in their defender.

In fact the inference coming from Ewood Park is that Grant Hanley is one of the players the new club manager, Owen Coyle, would not want to lose.

Perhaps, unless Fulham Football Club are prepared to make a higher offer, this is a chase that will have to be abandoned and the sights focussed on someone else.

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LETHAL FULHAM ACE TRACKED BY EURO GIANTS AHEAD OF SUMMER TRANSFER WINDOW



According to Fanatik, Turkish giants Galatasary are the latest side to be interested in Fulham striker Moussa Dembele.

The Frenchman made 46 appearances in all competitions for the West London side over the course of the season, scoring 17 goals.

Still, despite his prolific form, he finished the season as the Cottagers' second highest scorer behind Ross McCormack, who bagged a total of 23 goals.

The 19-year old has been linked with a number of clubs over the last 12 months, including the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Turkish giants had a poor campaign last season, as they could only mount a 6th place finish in the first division, their lowest finish since 2011.

With FFP regulations baring down on the Istanbul outfit, the Les Blues hopeful could represent a cheap option considering he is out of contract.

Dembele is a product of Fulham's youth academy, he was also a part of French side Paris Saint-Germain's youth setup before joining the London outfit in 2012.

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Tottenham Target, Moussa Dembélé, Pondering Next Club



Tottenham Hotspur target, Fulham's Moussa Dembélé, will have his contract expire this summer making him available by the start of the transfer window. With Spurs and Liverpool interested, the Frenchman is pondering which club to join ahead of next season.

On the heels of a productive season with Fulham in the Championship this past term, Dembélé's stock has greatly risen after making 43 league appearances, scoring 15 goals and recording seven assists. As a team though, the Cottagers finished dead last in the second division and it's a wonder if the France Under-20 international will stick around or leave for greener pastures.

With Dembélé's contract set to end on June 30th, and Tottenham and Liverpool targeting the striker, there's a good chance that he could succeed with either Mauricio Pochettino or Jürgen Klopp as his new manager.

But at the age of 19, the Frenchman wants to join a club where he can get regular playing time. Currently, there are plans for Pochettino to sign reinforcements at the center-forward position and lessen the burden on Harry Kane.

Though it remains to be seen if Moussa Dembélé is still a priority with Olympique Marseille's Michy Batshuayi, Tottenham's preferred target right now.

Therefore, Dembélé who was recently on a French football talk show called Telefoot After discussed his next move with former Chelsea player and 1998 World Cup winner with France, Frank Leboeuf.



Moussa Dembele of Fulham battles for the ball with Jack Price and Dominic Iorfa of Wolves during the FA Cup third round replay match between Wolverhampton Wanderers and Fulham at Molineux on January 13, 2015 in Wolverhampton, England.
"You are never 100 percent sure to make the right choice in terms of choosing the right club but that is part of the risk of the job; it's football and you have to take risks," Moussa Dembélé said (via Get West London).

"It is about progression for me and that will come with playing the maximum amount of games."

Frank Leboeuf agreed with Moussa Dembélé's thoughts on what to do next.

That the Fulham striker should join a club who will offer him plenty of playing time. If not, why would he sign with them if he's not going to play regardless of higher wages and a prestigious club who will compete in Europe and be title contenders?

"Money and status of a club are both important things," Frank Leboeuf said. "But Dembélé is right in asking himself whether he will play or not."

"He should be looking at his progression and how many players in his position are in the current team? If there are four attackers in the team what is the point of signing for that club?"

Not too long ago, Hotspur HQ's Ryan Wrenn explored the possibility for two strikers to co-exist in Mauricio Pochettino's starting XI that doesn't involve changing the formation, by looking at it in a different perspective.

Should Tottenham sign a striker — anyone would suffice, but preferably someone who is capable of playing by himself — then Harry Kane could play in the number 10 role and act as the secondary striker. Something that he has done before whenever Roberto Soldado was subbed in during the 2014-15 campaign.

This will move Dele Alli around and it's a matter of preference for Pochettino.

Should Alli drop deeper to play alongside Eric Dier at central midfield which is his natural position? Or should he shift over to left midfield and have Christian Eriksen start on the bench?

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Aston Villa youngster Callum Robinson is reportedly a target for Fulham and Preston North End.



According to the Daily Mail, Aston Villa forward Callum Robinson is a target for Fulham and Preston North End as he edges towards a permanent exit from the club.

Robinson, 21, has come up through the ranks at Villa Park, and as a former England youth international with the Under-16's, Under-18's, Under-19's and Under-20's, he has long been tipped for a bright future in claret and blue.

So far though, Robinson has played just five times for Villa's first team, and has spent most of his time out on loan in the Football League.

The 2014/15 season saw Robinson spend two loan spells at Preston, where he hit seven goals in 28 games before heading off to Bristol City on loan last summer - yet with just two starts and seven appearances to his name, Robinson was sent back to Villa in January.

Fortunately, Preston were willing to take Robinson back, and he managed to score twice in 14 appearances for North End as he again showed glimpses of his quality under Simon Grayson.

Now back at Villa again, Robinson's contract expires this summer - and it's believed that he could be leaving Villa for good when that deal ends.

The Daily Mail report that Robinson isn't expecting to stay under new Villa boss Roberto Di Matteo, and two Championship clubs are lining up moves to sign him when his contract at Villa is up - Fulham and, unsurprisingly, Preston.

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Newcastle United transfers: Striker is keen on St James' Park move - but release clause is sizeable



Newcastle United would have to match a £15million release clause to sign international striker

Ross McCormack would be open to a Newcastle United switch – if the club are prepared to match his £15million release clause.

Newcastle want a prolific striker to help fire them up the Championship next season – with Rafa Benitez having identified the lack of a proven forward as one of the reasons why United came up short over the course of the campaign.

But United are one of several clubs who have been alerted to McCormack's £15million release clause, with Aston Villa, Norwich and Palace others who are sniffing around a player who has hit double figures in each one of his last three seasons.

McCormack spoke on international duty about his desire to play Premier League football but he would be open to a move to St James' Park, even though they are relegated.

Newcastle have a transfer budget for the close season but it remains to be seen whether they are willing to spend £15million – more than they spent on any player last summer – on a player who is 29.

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Player Departures



The Club is able to confirm the following player activity following the expiry of their Fulham contracts on 30 June 2016:

Dan Burn leaves Craven Cottage after five years, while Alexander Kačaniklić departs having made 100 appearances, during which time he scored 11 goals.

Shaun Hutchinson, who joined in the summer of 2014, is also moving on to pastures new, as is Jamie O'Hara who arrived in July of last year.

Furthermore, we will be saying goodbye to Stephen Arthurworrey, Liam Donnelly, Shane Elworthy, Jordan Evans, Dean O'Halloran, Ian Pino Soler, Ange-Freddy Plumain and Aaron Redford.

We would like to thank all of these players for their contribution to Fulham over the years, and wish them all the best in their future careers.

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Fulham join race for Forsyth



Fulham have become the latest Championship club interested in signing Derby County defender Craig Forsyth, according to a Teamtalk report this morning.

The Scottish international full-back, who has made over 100 first-team appearances for the Rams, has been out of first-team action since November after suffering an untimely cruciate knee ligament injury. He had been Derby's first choice left back since making a loan move from Watford permanent back in 2013, but has lost his place in the side to new signing Marcus Olsson, who arrived in January.

Slavisa Jokanovic has made the signing of a left back a priority over the summer following the end of Luke Garbutt's loan, but Fulham are likely to face competition from Championship rivals Brighton and Hove Albion and QPR if new Derby manager Nigel Pearson decides to make Forsyth available for transfer. The full back, who can also play on the left side of midfield, began his professional career with Dundee, for whom he scored the winner in the Scottish Challenge Cup final in 2010.

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Stephen Arthurworrey: Fulham release ex-Yeovil Town loan defender


FORMER Yeovil Town loan defender Stephen Arthurworrey has been released by Fulham, the Championship club have announced.

Arthurworrey, 21, made 50 appearances across two separate spells at Huish Park, but is now looking for a new club after he was deemed surplus to requirements at Craven Cottage.

A towering centre-back, Arthurworrey first joined Yeovil in October 2014, where he became an instrumental figure in the Glovers backline, making 33 appearances and scoring twice.

His performances impressed then-manager Paul Sturrock to the extent that he re-signed the youngster on a season long loan last July, but a serious knee injury during a 1-0 defeat to Mansfield Town forced Arthurworrey to cut short his loan spell and return to Fulham.

Following the release of Jakub Sokolik at the end of last season, Darren Way is likely to be in the market for a central defender to join Darren Ward, Alex Lacey and Nathan Smith, and it remains to be seen whether the Glovers will register an interest in bringing Arthurworrey to Huish Park for a third time.

Arthurworrey is not the only former Yeovil player to be released by Fulham today. Dan Burn, the centre-back whose performances in the 2012-13 season proved so pivotal towards helping the Glovers secure promotion to the Championship, has also parted company with the cottagers.

The 24-year-old, who played 32 times for Fulham in the Championship last season, had previously announced his departure from Craven Cottage via Twitter.

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Philippe Albert Exclusive



Philippe Albert first became known to most English fans in 1994, when his performances at the World Cup caught the eye of Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan.

Keegan subsequently brought him to Tyneside, before later signing him for Fulham – but more on that to come.

"I was lucky enough to play very well in '94 in the States," Albert told the official website. "Kevin was working as a pundit for the BBC, and he watched two of my games.

"One was against Holland that we won 1-0 and I scored the goal. And in the other we lost 3-2 against Germany but I scored again. I played very well in those two games.



"A few weeks later he made contact with my Belgian club Anderlecht and I went over there and we talked for about 15 minutes, we barely talked about money.

"I wanted to move to work with him because when I was a young kid and he was a player at Liverpool I was one of his fans. I'd always wanted to work under him."

Fast-forward 22 years and Belgium have one of the strongest squads going into Euro 2016, but Albert is hoping the absence of their captain doesn't hinder the campaign.

Manchester City's Vincent Kompany will miss the tournament with a muscle injury, and his countryman – who made more than 40 appearances for Belgium – thinks that could impact their chances of success in France.

"We've had plenty of injuries and the most worrying one is Vincent Kompany, of course," he said. "He's the leader of our defence, he's the leader of the squad, and it will be very difficult to replace him.

"We drew against Finland last week and Finland were really bad but we only drew 1-1, and the defence didn't play very well in the second half.

"So it's going to be very difficult to replace Vincent because he's one of the best defenders in the world and we're going to miss him in France.

"Hopefully [manager Marc] Wilmots will find a replacement because our first game is on 13th June. Hopefully it will be okay but I'm a little bit worried.

"I was very optimistic a few weeks ago when Vincent was fit, so it's going to be difficult for Belgium, but if we can reach the Quarter-Final or the Semi-Final I'll be delighted. But it's not going to be easy without Kompany."



One man who's set to feature is former Fulham favourite Mousa Dembélé, following a stellar campaign for his current side Tottenham Hotspur.

But while he excelled in the Premier League in 2015/16, he has a job on to earn a starting berth ahead of the likes of Marouane Fellaini, Axel Witsel and Radja Nainggolan.

"Mousa in England played very, very well for Fulham, and this season he was one of the best players in Tottenham's team, but tactically it's a little bit different with the national team," Albert explained.

"Wilmots wants to play with two defensive midfielders and Kevin De Bruyne as a number 10. Mousa started the game against Switzerland recently, unfortunately he was injured in the second half and he didn't play against Finland.



"He's a great player but tactically it's completely different playing for the national team and for Tottenham. It's up to Wilmots to make him play in the right position and use the maximum of his qualities."

Albert is certainly well qualified to provide an insight on the Belgium squad, having covered them regularly since getting back into the game.

"When I stopped playing in 2000 I didn't want to be involved in football anymore so I worked outside football for 11 years," he stated. "And now it's five years since I came back into Belgian football, and I'm working as a pundit for Belgian television.

"I'm doing the Belgian league every weekend and every game for the national team as well. So I'm okay, I can't complain! I'm going to be 49 and I've had a wonderful life."

In part two of Philippe's exclusive interview with fulhamfc.com, he explains why the atmosphere at Craven Cottage was the best he's ever known, and recalls the surreal experience of meeting Michael Jackson after a match.

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2015/16 Player Profiles: Richard Stearman, Fernando Amorebieta, Matt Smith



Offseason! Player profiles! We're inside the top 20 with 19-17.


So, we have finally reached offseason, which means it's time for us to give some player profiles towards our (fairly bad) squad.

Richard Stearman

Rank: 19 | Age: 28 | Starts: 2 | Appearances: 29 | Minutes: 2,521

Player Profile

Stearman joined us from Wolves towards the start of the 2015-16 season. He seemed to be our golden boy in terms of defence, being versatile, meaning he can play any back three position as required. His radar below shows what kind of player he is. Not perfect, but useful.



Season Review

With 31 appearances over the season, he's definitely shown his ability to play well, with over 2,600 minutes played on the team. He's created chances, completing successful crosses and also racking up some yellows (and a red), showing that he's a man of his word when it comes to defending by any means necessary.

2016/17 Best Case

In terms of where he goes after summer, I think he'll stay with us. He's definitely one of, if not, the best defender we've had for a while.

Fernando Amorebieta

Rank: 18 | Age: 31 | Starts:  | Appearances: 14  | Minutes: 1,224

Player Profile

31 year-old Fernando Amorebieta has been with us since the 2013/14 season, however, after a pretty good season - one in which he became the first Venezuelan to score in the Premier League (and also the first Venezuelan to score for a team that got relegated from the Premier League?) things have been slippery for the robust defender, having been loaned to Middlesbrough for half of last season, after a mere eight appearances. He has a reputation for being foul prone and sometimes making rash decisions. His passing is a little weak, and he can be beaten on the dribble. He's a beast in the air. The radar shows, that he's probably best used as a center back rather than at the left back position where he's often been deployed.



Season Review

He's had a good time with Boro, returning to them on loan for most of this season before coming back to us in February. He played over 2200 minutes split between the two teams. He was brought back because frankly, Fulham were willing to try anything on defense. He wasn't the answer on defense, but he did seem less rash in this go around than before. He was only committing 1.6 fouls a game, and only received two yellows in his fourteen appearances, and the one red card I'm still not sure was actually a handball (you can judge for yourself).

2016/17 Best Case

He still has years remaining on his contract. He's still on a high wage. The team doesn't seem sure he's the answer in defense. He's been loaned to Middlesbrough twice, so you never know. He might join them again on loan, maybe even join the club permanently, or perhaps Fulham buy him out and left him walk away on a free.

Matt Smith

Rank: 17 | Age: 26 | Starts: 5 | Appearances: 20  | Minutes: 589 | Goals: 2 | Assists: 2

Player Profile

The youngest of the three, Matt Smith joined us on summer transfer deadline day 2014, for a total of three years with an additional year provided he wants it, from Leeds United, along with his friend Ross McCormack. In this time with us, he's appeared 21 times, scoring two goals, which is pretty shoddy in comparison to the rest of our forwards. It's unfortunate as he's been subbed on 16 times this season, giving him opportunities to shine in terms of scoring and being able to play in the front three, but he hasn't been able to capitalise on this, creating more chances than actually being the one to score, which is pretty admirable.



Season Review

His season started strong with a start and a goal in Fulham's first match of the season. Remember how much hope this goal gave us?

After this though, he was mainly used as a late game sub and in garbage time. he managed to rack up two assists when Birmingham destroyed Fulham 5-2, and scored the lone goal in a 3-1 loss to Nottingham Forest.

2016/17 Best Case

Seeing as he has another two years left on his contract, he'll more than likely stay with us next season, but could possibly be loaned off if his appearance to goal ratio doesn't improve.