Monday Fulham Stuff - 27/04/20...

[WhiteJC]

Fulham may have two huge decisions to make this summer – opinion

The future of English football is very much up in the air at the moment, and with the ongoing pandemic putting a halt to the beautiful game for the foreseeable future there are plenty of questions still to be answered.

Promotion and relegation seem to be a hot topic at the moment, but even if everything goes ahead as normal, there is one club that have a big decision to make on a couple of big name players.

Indeed, upon Fulham's relegation from the Premier League they had to balance their books and that meant selling players and loaning out big names to cut down their wage budget.

The Whites received £25m for Ryan Sessegnon in the summer, while Jean Micheal Seri and Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa were sent out on loan.

Now, if the London club return to the Premier League they will have a decision to make on the aforementioned players, but what should they do?

It's no secret that the two former Ligue 1 stars flopped during their first season at Craven Cottage, they were both named in FourFourTwo's worst signings of the season list, but they did enough during their respective time at Nice and Marseille to warrant fees of over £20m being spent on them.

This season has been a chance for the pair to prove themselves once again as they were shipped out on loan, and they have made strides towards doing just that.

Anguissa has proven himself to be one of Europe's best dribblers, making the fifth-most dribbles per game of any player in La Liga and even catching the eye of Real Madrid during his time at Villarreal.

Seri, on the other hand, is a player that seemed too good for Fulham when he first arrived.

The Ivorian had been heavily linked to Barcelona the prior summer, but upon his arrival at Craven Cottage, he looked more suited to League One than the Champions League.

Seri has stepped up this season with a pass accuracy of almost 90 percent and 1.5 key passes per game for Galatasaray, but then again, the Turkish League isn't the best standard in the world.

If Fulham do go up, they will have a decision to make on these two.

Anguissa has more than earnt a chance to be handed another shot by Scott Parker, but Seri has a lot still to prove, and his future in England could well be decided by how he gets on in pre-season.



https://www.footballfancast.com/fulham-fc-news/fulham-may-have-two-huge-decisions-to-make-this-summer-opinion

[WhiteJC]

NUFC takeover gossip as Kevin Keegan is lined up for a return and takeover 'timescale' revealed

All of your Sunday Newcastle United takeover gossip rounded up as Mike Ashley edges closer to the exit door at St James' Park

Former Newcastle United manager Kevin Keegan is being lined up for a sensational return to St James' Park.

That is according to the Mirror, who report he will be invited to take up an ambassadorial role when Amanda Staveley's PiF consortium's £300million buy-out is finalised.

It is claimed the new owners are 'keen to generate goodwill' and bringing Keegan back to St James' Park, as well as former assistant Terry McDermott, is a 'high priority'.

The duo would have zero influence on the playing side of things but it is a move that is sure to be welcomed by the Toon Army after Keegan vowed never to step foot inside St James' Park while Mike Ashley remained owner.

Keegan and McDermott's Newcastle side of the nineties were dubbed 'the Entertainers' and came so close to winning the Premier League title in 1996.

However, a second spell as manager under Ashley ended in bitter circumstances 12 years ago.

Meanwhile, the same report has suggested a timeline for when the takeover is expected to be completed.

News emerged almost a fortnight ago that PCP Capital Partners' takeover bid for the club had reached the Premier League's Owners and Directors' Test stage.

The bid, spearheaded by financier Amanda Staveley and also involving the Reuben brothers, Simon and David, is backed by the mega-rich Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman.

And according to the Mirror, the deal could be finalised 'within the next 10 days' and the Premier League are 'within sight' of giving the new owners the keys to St James' Park.

The report claims the 'fit and proper persons test' is 'close to being satisifed' and a decision on whether the new owners can assume control of Newcastle United is 'expected imminently'.




https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/nufc-takeover-gossip-kevin-keegan-18152148

[WhiteJC]

Real Madrid readying £17m transfer bid for Fulham midfielder and former record buy

Fulham sits within touching distance of the automatic promotion places in the Sky Bet Championship in 3rd place. They are six points shy of West Brom and will be wanting to chip away at this margin as soon as football kicks back into action. One player who won't be a part of that effort is Andre-Franck Zambo Anguissa who is on a season-long loan at Villareal. The misfit Cottager is being targetted, according to Mail Online, by Real Madrid.

Cameroonian defensive midfielder Anguissa arrived on a club record, £30million deal when signing for Fulham ahead of last season's ill-fated Premier League campaign. He joined the Londoners from French Ligue 1 side Marseille, featuring in 22 of Fulham's Premier League campaign without scoring or assisting.

Relegation saw him shipped out to La Liga side Villareal where the 24-year-old has featured in 25 La Liga games, scoring one goal and providing one assist. Whilst hardly an eye-catching return, it is still enough to have caught the eyes of Real Madrid, one of football's global names.

According to the Mail Online's Kathryn Batte, Los Blancos are said to be considering Anguissa "as a cut-price midfield potion this summer." Mundo Deportivo report as a rumour that Villareal "will not exercise the purchase option" for Anguissa and go on to say that Real Madrid could step in as long as demands are lowered.

The Mail Online's Batte says that Real are "unwilling to meet the midfielder's release clause of £22million" and will be looking to enter a £17million offer that might test Fulham's resolve. The Spanish giants are also said to be wanting to push for a salary reduction from the Yaoundé-born midfielder.




https://the72.co.uk/161530/real-madrid-readying-17m-bid-for-fulham-midfielder-and-former-record-buy/

[WhiteJC]

Fulham drop transfer fee for player – Club prepared to play waiting game

Fulham have reportedly lowered their asking price for Jean Michael Seri, but Galatasaray are prepared to wait until the end of the season, say Turkish newspaper Fotomac.

The Ivorian midfielder has been an important member of Fatih Terim's team, and his performances have been very impressive since the start of the second half of the season.

Before the Turkish Super Lig stopped due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Seri was a key player for Gala and Fotomac report the Turkish champions want to keep him in the squad.

According to Fotomac, Fulham have dropped their asking price for Seri to €10m and informed Galatasaray. However, it's claimed Gala haven't yet entered into transfer talks but are likely to make their move in the summer.

Seri is said to be keen on staying in Istanbul , however, the 28 year old's future depends on future talks between the two clubs.

He's made 29 appearances this season and scored one goal. His contract at Craven Cottage will expire at the end of June 2022.



http://sportwitness.co.uk/fulham-drop-transfer-fee-player-get-move-club-prepared-play-waiting-game/

[OldBrownShoe]

Morning fellow whites. Unfortunately, Fulham have a long history of letting players go far too early, not to the Club's benefit. I am sure you can remember many such in your time.

[filham]

The Keegan back to Newcastle with no involvement in football story makes you smile.
Can anyone really believe Keegan could work at Newcastle and not become involved in football matters. Even with us he had to come down from a lofty place to take over the hands on managers job.

[Twig]

So the Newcastle deal could be done in 10 days and the fit and proper person test is close to being satisfied. Well that's reassuring, such a rigorous test.

[Jims Dentist]

I wonder if such  tests existed back in the day:
Would Clay and Bulstrode have made it through?

[Twig]

I wonder if such  tests existed back in the day:
Would Clay and Bulstrode have made it through?

Sadly I suspect they probably would. Not sure what the fit and proper test achieves other than a very thin coat of whitewash.