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Tuesday Fulham Stuff - 27/07/21...

Started by WhiteJC, July 27, 2021, 12:08:45 AM

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WhiteJC

Gazzaniga could be Fulham's new Mark Schwarzer

With Harry Wilson's switch to Fulham grabbing all the headlines in recent weeks, Tony Khan and the Cottagers' transfer team did a fantastic job of keeping their swoop for Paulo Gazzaniga under wraps.

Indeed, with it being believed that a number of clubs were pursuing a deal for the Argentina international following his departure from Tottenham Hotspur at the end of last season, Fulham's capture of the goalkeeper on a two-year deal is a rather significant coup for the west London side.

And, although things have not quite worked out for the 29-year-old so far in his career, having failed to make the number one shirt his own at Southampton or Spurs, should Marco Silva place his trust in the £2.7m-rated man next season, the shot-stopper very much has the potential to become Fulham's undisputed first-choice 'keeper for the foreseeable future – a luxury the club have not enjoyed since the days of Mark Schwarzer.

Gazzaniga could finally fill Schwarzer's shoes

While it is true that both Marcus Bettinelli and Marek Rodak have enjoyed lengthy spells in west London – with varying levels of success – neither 'keeper ever really looked good enough to box off being the club's first-choice for a number of years, with Bettinelli leaving Craven Cottage on a free transfer this summer and Gazzaniga seemingly being brought in to challenge Rodak.

However, Fulham could finally have found their main man in the Argentine, who was unfortunate to be the World Cup-winning captain Hugo Lloris' understudy at Spurs, but nevertheless, highly impressed when called upon for the Premier League side.

Indeed, over his three top-flight appearances in 2018/19, the £2.7m-rated man kept one clean sheet, conceded two goals and made an average of 3.7 saves per game.

These metrics saw the man Virgil van Dijk dubbed an "outstanding" goalkeeper earn an average SofaScore match rating of 7.27, a score that technically bettered Lloris' seasonal rating of 7.12 that year – albeit with a much smaller sample size.

The following season, an elbow injury suffered by the Frenchman afforded Gazzaniga much more game time, with the 29-year-old keeping two clean sheets, conceding 26 goals and making an average of 3.3 saves per match over his 18 Premier League appearances, with his performances earning a seasonal SofaScore match rating of 6.86.

Unfortunately for the £19k-per-week 'keeper – as well as for many fans and players of the club – Jose Mourinho then took over in north London, bringing Joe Hart in as Lloris' number two, and ultimately signalling the beginning of the end of the Argentine's spell at Spurs.

However, if Gazzaniga can repeat his form at Spurs for Fulham next season, there is absolutely no reason why the 29-year-old cannot match Schwarzer's spell at the Cottagers' first-choice shot-stopper, with his signing, from our point of view, being an incredibly astute piece of business by the club.



https://www.footballfancast.com/fulham-fc-news/fulham-transfer-news-paulo-gazzaniga-mark-schwarzer-tottenham-hotspur-tony-khan-marco-silva-the-championship

WhiteJC

The lowdown on Shahid Khan's share transfer

This afternoon saw us all learn that Fulham's parent company, Cougar HoldCo, had written off £151 million of loans to the club by converting them into share capital. So, why has Shahid Khan capitalised Cougar HoldCo in this way, where have these loans come from and what does it mean for Fulham?



Firstly, who is Cougar HoldCo? Put simply, as the name suggests, this is the holding company set up in July 2013 through which Shahid Khan owns his shares in Fulham Football Club Limited. However, under the surface, Fulham's ownership structure is much more complicated, with Cougar HoldCo London Limited instead its 'ultimate parent company'.

This is because CougarHoldCo indirectly owns Fulham Football Club Limited through Fulham Football Leisure Limited, a holding company incorporated in May 1997. This was presumably originally created by Mohamed Al-Fayed as he took over the club from Jimmy Hill and Bill Muddyman. Fulham Football Leisure Limited owns the majority of the club's tangible fixed assets, which are defined as physical asset(s) which have a quantifiable monetary value and which is not expected to be liquidated into cash within the next 12 months. In the case of Fulham, this is likely Craven Cottage and Motspur Park, as well as any other property or equipment the club possesses.

Therefore, this limits the club's liability should they forced to enter into receivership, safeguarding the existence of Craven Cottage and Motspur Park for the club and preventing a scenario similar to what befell Bury and Gigg Lane. This leaves Fulham Football Leisure Ltd with around £160.4 million in tangible fixed assets, whilst Fulham Football Club Ltd possesses just £1.985 million, which is the main difference between the two corporation's balance sheets in 2019/20.



Fulham Football Leisure Ltd has therefore received the £151 million of share capital from Cougar HoldCo Ltd, keeping £54,604,676 which will presumably be invested into the ongoing Riverside redevelopment as well as the redevelopment of the old BBC Sports Complex at Motspur Park – for which further details are expected to be announced by the end of this year. The remaining £96,394,324 has therefore been injected into Fulham Football Club Ltd via share capital offset against debt.



Whilst it is unclear what this money will be used for, it means that Fulham Football Club Ltd will no longer have to make interest payments to Cougar HoldCo for the money borrowed as it has been written off into shares. It also has no change in Fulham's ownership structure, as Shahid Khan already owns 100% of the club. In fact, loans being written off into shares is nothing new to Fulham, who have experienced this before multiple times under Shahid Khan and Mohamed Al-Fayed.

The transition of loans into shares simply means that Khan has taken more risk on the club as Cougar HoldCo no longer receives preferential lender status under the football creditor rule, should the club enter administration. However, the benefit to Khan is that the club looks more attractive to lenders and potential buyers as its gearing ratio is lower, meaning that the club's activities are funded by shareholder's funds rather than creditors' funds – which is why Al-Fayed wrote off Fulham's loans prior to selling the club to the Khans in 2013.

The input of share capital set off against related debt via deed also has no impact on Fulham's financial fair play (FFP) status, unless Shahid Khan doesn't provide a letter detailing his ongoing financial commitment to the support of the club – something which is required by the EFL from the owners of all loss making clubs.



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2021/07/the-lowdown-on-shahid-khans-share-transfer/

WhiteJC

Flamengo reject Fulham bid for Boro target
Middlesbrough have been linked with a move for Brazilian youngster Rodrigo Muniz, who is also attracting interest from Fulham. However, Fulham have seen their bid rejected for the 20-year-old.

According to reports, Flamengo have rejected Fulham's bid for Rodrigo Muniz after the Cottagers placed a loan bid with the option of signing him permanently.

Although Fulham are trying to cut costs ahead of a deciding season that they must try to find their way back into the Premier League, Flamengo are not interested in dealing with them on that path, and they want an outright deal for the 20-year-old in the transfer window.

Middlesbrough also have a similar bid approach for Muniz, and it is difficult for them to secure a move for him.

Muniz has also been linked to signing for Inter Milan and Atletico Madrid, but nothing seems concrete from those sides at the moment.

Middlesbrough may need to act swiftly if they want to sign more strikers. With the current transfer window almost coming to an end, they have only acquired the signing of Uche Ikpeazu in the forward position. Chuba Akpom is the other first-team striker they have, but the former Arsenal forward may be on his way out of the club.



https://www.oneboro.co.uk/boro-news/flamengo-reject-fulham-bid-for-boro-target-26721


WhiteJC

Abraham poised for League Two loan

Fulham forward Timmy Abraham is set to join a League Two side on loan, according to reports this evening.

The 20 year-old spent pre-season on trial with Cheltenham Town but Michael Duff decided against offering Abraham a loan opportunity with the Robins despite the striker's brace against Kidderminster Harriers.

Fulham are keen to give Abraham further first team experience after he struggled to make the transition from young starlet to progressing through the academy at Motspur Park. The former Charlton youngster has struggled to make his mark in loan spells with Bristol Rovers, Plymouth Argyle and Raith Rovers in the last twelve months and is poised to try his luck at League Two level.



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2021/07/abraham-poised-for-league-two-loan/

WhiteJC

Fulham reveal stance regarding 20-y/o striker's future – Next season already decided

Fulham are facing another season in the Sky Bet Championship after relegation from the Premier League.

Fulham bounced back at the first time of asking when faced with a similar situation in 2019/20 albeit through the play-offs.

They will be gunning for promotion with a new man at the helm in Marco Silva. He was brought in to replace Scott Parker who moved to Bournemouth.

The Cottagers have made two signings so far as they look to restructure their squad. They have brought in ex-Spurs 'keeper Paulo Gazzaniga and Liverpool winger Harry Wilson.

However, Silva has made a decision that will see one player – Timmy Abraham – leave the club. The nature of this departure has been stated by reporter Jon Palmer:

As Palmer points out, Fulham youngster Abraham – the younger brother of Chelsea star Tammy Abraham – is going to be allowed to leave on loan.

It won't be the 20-year-old's first time away from Craven Cottage on a loan deal. He has been loaned out to Bristol Rovers (January 2020-May 2020), Plymouth Argyle (October 2020-December 2020) and to Raith Rovers (January 2021-May 2021).

Whilst out on these loan deals, the young Fulham striker has only appeared sporadically for Bristol Rovers (four appearances), Plymouth Argyle (four appearances) and Raith Rovers (eight appearances).

Whilst Palmer's tweet doesn't specify a club he is going to be heading for, he does say that it will be one in League Two.

He has appeared in three of Cheltenham Town's pre-season games but he obviously won't be ending up there with them playing in League One next season.

Thoughts?

It makes sense that Fulham are taking stock and deciding the best option next season for Timmy Abraham.

He'd struggle to get any game time for the Craven Cottage outfit so a loan move would likely suit all parties.

Abraham dropping down to League Two would give him a better guarantee of regular time on the pitch and regular involvement in the rigours of first-team football.



https://the72.co.uk/243264/fulham-reveal-stance-regarding-future-of-20-y-o-striker-next-season-decision-made/