Promoted: Fulham striker Moussa Dembele agrees £27k-a-week deal with Galatasaray

[HatterDon]

Very angry about the whole situation. We have invested time & money with him & will end up with nothing. He could have done the decent thing & sign a contract with a reasonable buy out clause. VDS & Saha both did this which meant we got decent sums for them.
I am disgusted with Dembele & his agent.

I don't know about that. 19 goals in all competitions across two seasons sounds like we got some good from him. As a matter of fact that's probably the best return for an investment we've gotten from a young player in at least 20 years.

[Jonnoj]

Very shortsighted career move if true.

Not sure what these young footballers are looking for? If it's to be one of the best & play in the best leagues, this isn't the right move. If it's purely to get some extra cash for himself & his agents then it is the right move for him but he's selling himself short if he's as good as he seems to think he is.

Personally don't think he's that special but annoyed we'll miss out on some cash of our own if he moves there!

It may be a sensible decision to play at a high-profile club where he will get game time and also play in the CL.
Also in my view, Istanbul is a fantastic city and a great experience for anyone.
Appalling transfer rules that mean we can't get a fee is the bit that frustrates me.

[Kent Cassandra]

What about Smalling HD?

[sunburywhite]

What about Smalling HD?

I can only remember Smalling C

[bobbo]

Very angry about the whole situation. We have invested time & money with him & will end up with nothing. He could have done the decent thing & sign a contract with a reasonable buy out clause. VDS & Saha both did this which meant we got decent sums for them.
I am disgusted with Dembele & his agent.

and it was Jimmy hill who helped make this situation all possible

Why is it down to Jimmy Hill?

sorry I'm probably not eloquent enough or have the time to explain.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

Very angry about the whole situation. We have invested time & money with him & will end up with nothing. He could have done the decent thing & sign a contract with a reasonable buy out clause. VDS & Saha both did this which meant we got decent sums for them.
I am disgusted with Dembele & his agent.

and it was Jimmy hill who helped make this situation all possible

Why is it down to Jimmy Hill?

sorry I'm probably not eloquent enough or have the time to explain.

Well let me answer: it has nothing to do with Jimmy Hill.

[Beamer]

Really don't see this as a career move forward for him. Turkish league with a couple of exceptions would struggle in the championship and if he goes to Gala they are banned from Europe for a season for failing FFP twice. How is this going to further his career - so it is simply about a young mercenary then.
If this deal happens all I can say is good luck lad and I hope it works out as well for you as you deserve.

[MikeW]

Personally I'm not that fussed he's gone as I never saw him making any impact in the Prem - poor attitude at times and lazy in my view.  BUT ... my opinions apart, he has been very badly advised by his so called agent.  The Prem not Turkey is  where you put yourself in the spotlight.  But the Baby Bentley looms no doubt and the agent is taking a massive cut.

Sad day for football, not just Fulham. We saw it coming.

[filham]

I have never rated Dembele highly but had thought his transfer would puta few pounds into our transfer Kitty.

However I imagine that to get a good replacement may well cost us more than £1.4m a year (wages plus transfer fee) so if we really wanted to keep him it may have made sense to match the offer from the Turks, get him under a long contract and then sell him on at Christmas for a fat fee.

[BedsFFC]

I'm very indiffrent about the situation. Never really took to him. I'm sure he will do well.

I'm pretty sure we can find someone better for us right now. We are are a club that needs to be thinking "right now", right now.

[love4ffc]

I'm very indiffrent about the situation. Never really took to him. I'm sure he will do well.

I'm pretty sure we can find someone better for us right now. We are are a club that needs to be thinking "right now", right now.

My thoughts exactly  0001.jpeg

[MJG]

Looks like I'll be a solo voice on his ability then.

I rate him highly and hope he doesn't goto Turkey. Whole I'd prefer him firstly to stay here, but at worst another team in England so we can get money.
But with the right breaks I see him being a top striker in a top team within three or four Seasons. And people will look back and wonder where that came from.

[cmg]

No. No solo, MJG.

I think he has had a terrific season. The first of many to come for some lucky outfit
I've come to accept that he will be leaving - but will be gobsmacked if/when it turns out to be Gala.

I wish us the best of luck in finding a replacement. I don't believe that would turn out to be as easy as some above seem to think.

As far as I can make out the following are the only teenagers to have scored double figures in their first full season:

R. Robson (52-3) 19  scored 19
J.N Haynes (53-4) 19 scored 16
R. Marsh  (64-65) 19 scored 17

....that's it folks, Clarke was just a month into his 20s when he scored 24 in 66-7, but he had already had a couple of season with Walsall)

Still, not bad company.

[Twig]

Each to their own but how anyone cannot rate him is beyond me.  Fantastic scoring record at his age and in his first full season.  Assuming he does not get any serious injuries, I would expect him to go on and develop into a top class striker. 

Why is he a "mercenary" for taking a well paid job offer?  That is exactly what I have done during my career and I do not consider myself a mercenary.  Ridiculous.

Good or bad career move? Debatable, but good luck to the lad.

[bill taylors apprentice]

I know he wants to move on to a club of a higher status but If he is only going for £27,000 a week because that's the best offer I will be disappointed to say the least.

Does anyone think we would have matched those wages in an attempt to keep him?

[YoungsBitter]

I know he wants to move on to a club of a higher status but If he is only going for £27,000 a week because that's the best offer I will be disappointed to say the least.

Does anyone think we would have matched those wages in an attempt to keep him?

I had the same reaction when I saw the amount. I would have happily paid him that and sold McCormick for £12mm plus add ons. With two more seasons under his belt he would trade for more than £12mm and our new contract would give us a share wherever he went, unlike this current junior contract.

[bobbo]

Very angry about the whole situation. We have invested time & money with him & will end up with nothing. He could have done the decent thing & sign a contract with a reasonable buy out clause. VDS & Saha both did this which meant we got decent sums for them.
I am disgusted with Dembele & his agent.

and it was Jimmy hill who helped make this situation all possible

Why is it down to Jimmy Hill?

sorry I'm probably not eloquent enough or have the time to explain.

Well let me answer: it has nothing to do with Jimmy Hill.

fair enough but you are wrong players being able to treat their clubs(employers) badly such as he seems to be doing all stems from Jimmy hill gaining the players the freedom they have no, I never get embroiled out and out arguments on here . So reply as you wish. I know you seem not to. I will not come back on this subject

[cmg]

:plus one:

(although i had my doubts that home game just after the january transfer window closed when he played terribly and then walked off really slowly, holding the game up, when he got subbed)

Yes, I remember that and he has been criticized for it.
In the context of the match it was  a pretty inept and callow thing to do but, in general, I rather LIKE players to be a bit p1ssed off when they are subbed. I cite Danny Murphy as an example - he always looked likely to commit GBH when his number went up, even when it was being done to save his legs.

[cmg]

...actually, now I come to think of it, young Moussa hasn't always been adverse to being subbed.
I've just remembered the u18 PL Cup Final in which he had scored a remarkable hat-trick. He contrived to go down with an 'injury' 30 secs before the final whistle so that he could walk off to a (deserved) standing ovation. He'd have been 16 then. We laughed that even at such an early age he knew how to work a crowd.

[Carborundum]

So, I would be firmly in the Moussa's terrific, owes us nothing, helped us stay up camp.  But that's not why I am posting.

The title of this thread asserts as fact something that there seems scant evidence to support.  Maybe he will go there, maybe not.  Maybe he has verbally agreed something, maybe not, but if he'd actually signed I rather suspect Galatasary would have told the world.  But my point is that however this story has come into the public domain, it has done a wonderful job of setting a benchline weekly salary of £27k per week from which the bidding can develop further.  We are questioning whether it's the right club for his development, the rules Jimmy Hill helped bring about and other things beside.  But the key question from a Fulham point of view is whether resigning him is the best use of at least £27k per week.  Seems a bit steep to me, but it's not my money.