If only

[Ted White]

I found this two year old article the other day and it made me realise that actually getting these deals done sets the really good managers and their coaching teams, as well as their Chairman/Owners/Chief Execs, apart from the rest:-

https://www.football.london/fulham-fc/lingard-henderson-world-cup-fulham-14823912

[Southcoastffc]

Wow!  The article depicts players we went for - not bad.

Robert Lewandowski, 2009
Everyone knows who the 29-year-old is now - the former Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich hotshot who has bagged himself over 140 goals for the two sides since he moved to Germany from Lech Poznan in 2010.
But back in December 2009, a then 21-year-old Lewandowski was preparing for a loan spell at Fulham His agent at the time confirmed Fulham's interest and the Polish striker was even at Motspur Park to finalise the move, but it never got over the line.
He won the league with Poznan that season and then joined Dortmund, and the rest is history.
Mario Gomez, 2008
Fulham are reported to have had a bid of £15million accepted for Stuttgart's striker, Mario Gomez, in the summer after they had completed the Great Escape as they looked to build a front line that wouldn't see them in that position again.
Roy Hodgson had already signed Bobby Zamora from West Ham and was about to complete the signing of Andy Johnson from Everton, but Gomez would've been a real steal.
   Instead, he moved to Bayern Munich a year later for a Bundesliga transfer record fee at the time where he would go on to win the German first division twice, as well as the Champions League.
   
Nacer Chadli, 2012
Fulham came close to signing Chadli in 2012, as revealed by his agent, who said his player came very close to signing for the Cottagers but no deal could get over the line before the end of the transfer window.
Chadli was playing for FC Twente in Holland at the time, where he stayed until 2013 when Tottenham Hotspur came in for him and snapped him up for £7million.
He spent three years in north London where he enjoyed a decent goal returns tally before he moved on to West Brom for a club-record fee of £13million.

Jordan Henderson, 2012
He's now Liverpool's captain and the heartbeat of their midfield at Anfield, but rewind back to 2011 and then-manager Brendan Rodgers was ready to move him on to Fulham.
The Reds wanted Fulham's Clint Dempsey and were prepared to offer Henderson, who had only moved to Liverpool the season before from Sunderland, as a make weight in the deal.
Henderson recently revealed he cried when he learned of Liverpool's plan and that moving to Fulhamw as never an option for him, while Dempsey moved onto Tottenham instead in a £6million deal.
The Liverpool midfielder, meanwhile, recently led Liverpool out in a Champions League final and is now England's vice-captain out in Russia for the World Cup.
   
Aaron Ramsey, 2012
After Danny Murphy completed a free transfer to Blackburn in 2012, Fulham targeted Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey as their replacement for their former skipper.
The 21-year-old was Wales captain at the time but the Whites saw him as the ideal man to fit into their midfield, and hoped that they could persuade him with more game time.
It never materialised - Ramsey stayed put at the Emirates.
Jesse Lingard, 2014
Fulham raided Manchester United's youth teams for Ryan Tunnicliffe and Larnell Cole in 2014, but they wanted to make it a hat-trick of signings with Jesse Lingard also on their radar.
The Whites offered £5million for the then 21-year-old but David Moyes refused to do business for Lingard - thankfully for United fans.
The 25-year-old scored a sublime goal for England in their 6-1 win over Panama at the World Cup in Russia and enjoyed a solid season at Old Trafford under Jose Mourinho last season.

Gareth Bale, 2009
After signing from Southampton, Bale struggled to live up to his enormous potential at Tottenham initially, with a number of clubs looking at their options to sign the left back.
Fulham were one of them in 2009, with Roy Hodgson believing he could help Bale fulfil his potential - potential that would one day see him sign for Real Madrid and win the Champions League.
Unfortunately no move ever came through for Bale and in 2013 he signed for Madrid in a world record deal worth £85million.

Antoine Griezmann, 2014
Yep, the man who played out an entire transfer saga using documentaries about himself in the weeks building up to the 2018 World Cup in Russia almost signed for Fulham in 2014.
The Frenchman was playing for Real Sociedad at the time and the Whites enquired about him in January with Griezmann making a name for himself in La Liga.

They were quoted £12million for the 23-year-old, but opted for Kostas Mitroglou instead.
   Best not to dwell on that one.
   
Jamie Vardy, 2012
Back in 2012, Vardy was lighting up the non-league scene with Fleetwood Town and a number of scouts were watching him.
One of those scouts came from Fulham, and after hearing his reports of Vardy, Martin Jol wanted to sign the 24-year-old hotshot.
Instead, Leicester City jumped to the front of the queue and paid £1million for him, which was a non-league record.
Now 31, he's won the Premier League and is one of England's main strikers.
Romelu Lukaku, 2012
Having made an £18million move to Chelsea, Romelu Lukaku wasn't getting the first team opportunities he wanted at the club so Roberto Di Matteo was prepared to send him out on loan.
Fulham enquired after the 19-year-old, but instead Lukaku moved to West Brom where he scored 17 goals for the side.
John Stones, 2013
Fulham reportedly bid £1.5million for John Stones back in 2013 when he was at Barnsley, with the Oakwell outfit reportedly rejecting it because they wanted to loan him back for the rest of the season.
Southampton and Wigan were also touted as having an interest in the U19 international, but he moved to Everton instead before making the switch to Manchester City in 2014 - a deal that made him the second most expensive defender in world history.
Saul Niguez, 2011
Saul of Atletico Madrid very nearly signed for Fulham as 16-year-old, with the Cottagers wanting him to train with them for three months then go directly into their first team in the Premier League.
At the time, Saul was in Atletico's B Team but has since admitted he wasn't ready to make the jump from that to Premier League football at such a young age.