Ok, who knows the truth?

[Fernhurst]

For both seasons we have been in The Championship, Zambo and Seri have refused to play in the second division of English Football.
What has changed? Why were they both on the pitch Saturday??

Genuinely interested on what the thinking is by both their management teams?

[RaySmith]

Do we have evidence that they actually refused to play?

Aren't they contractually obligated to play for Fulham, unless they have some clause in their contract.
Do we know why they were sent on loan last  time in the Champ?

[JimmyConway]

Where Seri is concerned I just don't think there are any takers with the wages his on at Fulham for a lot of teams to say we don't fancy paying that if he were to go out on loan again! I would of thought Fulham are insistent that other team pay the whole wage and not half?
Similar with Frank big wages though I do think he'll be sold at a knock down price. I think we will be lucky to get half what we paid for him? Was it £30m.

[Twig]

Who says they refused?  Ok I know there have been rumours but that is all they are.  As with much about our club we will never know the true facts.

[H3Matt]

Lack of options. Without Anguissa and Seri we literally only have Francois as a CM (Onomah more of a CAM). Reed injured. Johansen gone. So we'll make them play until we get replacements in.
Rest assured, I'm confident at least Anguissa will be gone. Hopefully on a permanent so we can re-invest.

[Penfold]

I actually think it's very unlikely either refused to play in the Championship. It's not going to endear you to a potential suitor if they think you're Bertie big whatsits.

However, I'd imagine both were very happy to go on loan in 2019/20 for some top flight football abroad.

From a Fulham point of view, I'd imagine we were happy to get a few million off the wage bill for a season.

I'd imagine we will do our best to try and sell Frank if we can get an acceptable offer - maybe some money to reinvest. If not, the annual loss will at least be knocked down a little.

[bobby01]

I actually think it's very unlikely either refused to play in the Championship. It's not going to endear you to a potential suitor if they think you're Bertie big whatsits.

However, I'd imagine both were very happy to go on loan in 2019/20 for some top flight football abroad.

From a Fulham point of view, I'd imagine we were happy to get a few million off the wage bill for a season.

I'd imagine we will do our best to try and sell Frank if we can get an acceptable offer - maybe some money to reinvest. If not, the annual loss will at least be knocked down a little.

. 

Agree here, it is speculation that they did not want to play, I think it was probably more the case we were happy to loan them out to reduce costs.

[Fernhurst]

Ok..... thank you one and all. Just me then imagining some machiavellian plot.

[perry geyton]

Both players feel they are better then the championship whilst not really proving otherwise

Anguissa will leave, his wages are 50K plus and Seri I feel maybe worth  keeping onto for the season

[Statto]

This whole saga reminds me of the time someone erroneously posted on here that it was Parker who started playing Chambers at DM.  The mistake got repeated as fact over and over until eventually it became accepted wisdom. Seems the same has happened with some headlines, rumours or other people's comments about Seri and Anguissa, which have, through the forum Chinese whispers and fake news network, been transformed into treacherous statements from the players themselves.

[DanVerSar]

Assuming as well as their high salaries they have bonuses, high appearance fees etc in their salaries. Remember reading a financial fair play article about which players to sell and unsure how we could possibly keep Anguissa. There doesn't seem to be a shortage of interest in him either if articles are to be believed so we should get a decent price if he does leave.

[cookieg]

I think you'll find a lot of players don't want to play in the championship as they think they should be playing in the Prem but to actually refuse would more than likely result in a player being banned from the training ground or training with the U18s and certainly not be part of the squad on match day.

[Count Flapula]

I get the feeling we'd still be open to selling Zambo if we get a suitable offer.

We reportedly turned down £22.5m from Villarreal last season - IF that report was accurate (big IF IMO) given the current financial climate part created by COVID last season, I imagine that a lot of potential buyers would baulk at £25m+ for him - particularly overseas clubs as the drop in gate fees probably have more impact than here as TV revenue for Prem clubs almost make the loss of match day revenues not such a going concern.

Seeing as we've had a years worth of contract amortisation since that reported Villarreal offer, it would be intereting to know if we'd accept a slightly lower fee now. That's said, he still has 2+1 years on his deal so we are still in a strong position on that front at least.

I wouldn't be surprised if he's been told by the club that we won't accept a greatly reduced fee to get rid of him and/or there are no suitors willing to meet anywhere near what we'd accept, so for everyone's sake it's best for him that he knuckles down and plays.

Whatever the reality is, so long as he gives his best when called upon then I'm happy. I doubt Silva will pick anyone who wants to give less than 100% so if he's picking them based on attitude and form shown in training then everyone can benefit from that situation one way or another.

[Jamie88]

This whole saga reminds me of the time someone erroneously posted on here that it was Parker who started playing Chambers at DM.  The mistake got repeated as fact over and over until eventually it became accepted wisdom. Seems the same has happened with some headlines, rumours or other people's comments about Seri and Anguissa, which have, through the forum Chinese whispers and fake news network, been transformed into treacherous statements from the players themselves.

Absolutely right, and I also remember a couple of years ago a similar situation where an entire thread was dedicated to slagging off 'all the people' who wanted Rodak dropped, when it turned out not a single person actually wanted it, just a single post questioning the notion.

[HamsterWheel]

With Covid, not many clubs have millions to spend on the likes of the pair, so they need to get themselves in the shop window (pitch) as much as possible. So of course they're happy to play, and put a shift in.

[filham]

If I was responsible for Fulham contracts I would ensure that all contracts agreed when in the premier league had a clause saying that wages would be reduced if relegated. Now if I was a player facing such a contract I would reserve the right to be able to look for a loan deal that would provide my premier league wages.