Sunday Fulham Stuff - 11/06/23...

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Fulham 'open to Vinicius and Muniz offers'
This morning's taste of transfer tittle-tattle comes from Football Insider, who claim that Fulham are open to listing to offers for their Brazilian forwards Carlos Vinicus and Rodrigo Muniz in order to fund the arrival of Coventry striker Viktor Gyökeres.

Former Sky Sports reporter Pete O'Rourke cites 'a well-placed source' but there are reasons to cast doubt on the veracity of this information. Firstly, Fulham's Financial Fair Play position is much stronger this summer as the summer splurge that followed the play-off final win over Aston Villa in 2018 drops out of the calculations and the club will have banked significant sums in prize money and broadcast revenue having finished tenth in the top flight last term.

Furthermore, whilst the Whites are undoubtedly seeking a striker this summer to provide competition for Serbian goalscoring sensation Aleksandar Mitrovic it seems questionable that Marco Silva would sanction the sale of Vinicius. The Brazilian forward took a while to find his feet at Craven Cottage but finished the campaign strongly, ending up with five goals after stepping in for the suspended Mitrovic. The 28 year-old, who memorably opened his account for the club with the winner against Chelsea in January, only arrived in September and Fulham rebuffed interest from his homeland during the winter transfer window.

Muniz, a £8m signing from Flamengo two summers ago, badly needs regular football after his loan spell with Middlesbrough last term saw him sidelined when Michael Carrick replaced Chris Wilder in the Riverside hotseat. The 22 year-old still has three years to run on his Craven Cottage contract and a loan appears more likely – although the Fulham hierarchy will be trying to make sure he heads for the right destination this time.



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2023/06/fulham-open-to-vinicius-and-muniz-offers/

[WhiteJC]

Fulham give Palhinha transfer update amid West Ham interest and Arsenal's Declan Rice pursuit

Arsenal are looking to sign West Ham United captain Declan Rice during the summer transfer window

 Arsenal's primary target for the summer transfer window is West Ham United captain Declan Rice, football.london understands.

The Gunners are keen to bolster their midfield options, with manager Mikel Arteta identifying the England international as the perfect candidate to help close the gap to Premier League champions Manchester City. On Sunday, talkSPORT reported that West Ham had identified Fulham star Palhinha as a potential replacement for Rice, claiming that the Portuguese holding midfielder has a release clause in his contract at Craven Cottage.

However, Fulham vice-chairman and director of football operations Tony Khan quickly took to social media to dismiss these reports. "There is no release clause," Khan wrote on Twitter in reply to the report.

Ajax's Edson Alvarez has also been mooted as a potential Rice replacement for David Moyes' side with the Guardian reporting on Friday that Arsenal remained 'the most likely destination' for the Hammers captain. football.london also understands that the Gunners are confident they have a strong offer for the 24-year-old but feel that it will ultimately come down to the player to decide amid interest from a host of other top European sides, including German champions Bayern Munich and Manchester United.

 The north London outfit are keen to avoid a bidding war and they've demonstrated in the past that they are willing to walk away from priority targets like Lisandro Martinez and Mykhailo Mudryk - who eventually joined United and Chelsea respectively. Arsenal are now preparing an official offer for the talented midfielder, having waited until after West Ham's Europa Conference League final against Fiorentina as a mark of respect.

Rice refused to close the door on the possibility of staying at the London Stadium but his club's chairman David Sullivan didn't take as coy an approach. Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: "I think it has to be [Rice's final game for West Ham].

"We promised him he could go. He set his heart on going. You can't ask for a man who has committed more to us this season.

"In due course, he has to get on and we have to get a replacement – or several replacements. It's not something we want to happen.

"We offered him £200,000-a-week 18 months ago. He turned it down. It's cost him £10million to stay at West Ham in that time (in lost wages). And he wants to go. You can't keep a player who doesn't want to be there."



https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/transfer-news/transfer-arsenal-declan-rice-pursuit-27098597