Friday Fulham Stuff - 28/07/23...

[WhiteJC]

Fulham playing hardball on Hudson-Odoi
Fulham have increased their offer for Callum Hudson-Odoi to £4.5m as they continue to play hardball with Chelsea in their pursuit of the wantaway winger.

The Whites know that the 22 year-old Wandsworth-born wide man wants to make a permanent move away from Stamford Bridge, with his preferred destination being Craven Cottage. They are confident they will be able to strike a swift deal on personal terms with Hudson-Odoi and feel that they are a strong negotiating position as his contract with Chelsea has less than twelve months to run.

Chelsea dropped their asking price from £10m to £8m and are likely to accept a fee of lower than that amount with Hudson-Odoi surplus to requirements under new manager Mauricio Pochettino. He has struggled to hit the heights of an outstanding debut season with the senior side that saw him earn a first England senior cap aged eighteen, but Fulham head coach Marco Silva feels he can reignite his career by the banks of the River Thames.

Hudson-Odoi has trained with Chelsea's under-21s for the past three weeks and was spotted at Fulham's historic home yesterday. Rival suitors Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace have been put off by Chelsea's valuation of the winger, who spent the second half of last season at Bayer Leverkusen on loan.



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2023/07/fulham-playing-hardball-on-hudson-odoi/

[WhiteJC]

Mullins named new Fulham U21 coach
Fulham have confirmed the appointment of Hayden Mullins as the club's new under-21 head coach.

The former Crystal Palace holding midfielder has amassed significant coaching experience having spent four years as Watford's under 21 boss and twice taking charge of the Hornets on a caretaker basis. Mullins landed his first senior management position when he was appointed Colchester United boss and has also had a taste of international management with a spell in charge of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Mullins succeeds Steve Wigley, who has returned to an expanded academy technical role after stepping up to take charge of the under 21s last season.

Fulham academy director Sean Cullen said:

    "We are delighted that Hayden has joined the academy as Under-21s head coach. He brings with him experience as a player, coach and manager that will further compliment our programme. Hayden's track record as a youth developer is second to none, and we believe he will support our players achieve their individual potential, whilst also ensuring our Under-21s are competitive."

Wigley added:

    "Hayden brings a wealth of playing and coaching experience. We interviewed a lot of outstanding candidates for the job and he came out on top, so I was delighted when he accepted and I'm sure he'll add to our Academy and help develop our players."



https://hammyend.com/index.php/2023/07/mullins-named-new-fulham-u21-coach/

[WhiteJC]

'Verbal Proposal': Romano Announces Cottagers Seeking Midfielder From London Rival
Italian transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has tweeted that Fulham have made an offer to The Blues for winger Callum Hudson-Odoi. Fulham's offer for the Englishman was reported to be around £4 million, but Chelsea have set their make-or-break number at £8 million.

Negotiations are ongoing between the two sides, and a deal is considered close. Fulham are hoping to get an agreement on a fee for the player with Chelsea done by next week, which would give them enough time to have him take his tests and complete paperwork for the upcoming season.

Once A Rising Star, Hudson-Odoi Falls Out Of Favour

Understand Fulham have made verbal proposal for Callum Hudson-Odoi — it’s around £4m fee 🚨⚪️⚫️ #FulhamFC

Chelsea want £8m fee, negotiations are advanced — Fulham, confident to get the deal done in the next days. pic.twitter.com/7UtduZp8qI

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 27, 2023

Cottagers Hoping to Be The Place of Rebirth
Callum Hudson-Odoi was a Chelsea academy player and was considered one of their best products when he joined the first team in 2018. Every minute he was on the pitch he earned more praise from Chelsea fans. After only a couple of seasons, he had won the Europa League, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and Club World Cup.

Following the 2021/22 season, in which the winger had not performed the best, he quickly fell out of favour with both the coaches that Chelsea went through and the fans who had so recently clamoured for his presence in the starting squad.

He spent this past season in the Bundesliga on loan to Bayer Leverkusen, but he failed to find a consistent form there as well. Normally, a 22-year-old would be given another chance at growing into a star, but Chelsea have lost their patience.

Fulham hope that the young winger will be able to thrive on a team where there are fewer expectations and fewer stars to take away from Huson-Odoi's skills on the ball. The expected departure of striker Aleksandar Mitrovic could also open up opportunities for the London-born man of Ghanian descent.

A Winning Legacy Overshadowed By Impatience
Hudson-Odoi has been with Chelsea through some of the club's highest peaks. A European and World Club champion, his departure can not detract from what he accomplished with the Blues.

Multiple teams are interested in him, but Fulham alone holds first place in the chase. They saw how the youngster became disillusioned with the club, and neither party seemed to wait long enough for development to take place. Now Fulham are willing to take the risk of getting the player and giving him the time they believe he needs to become a star.



https://lastwordonsports.com/football/2023/07/28/chelsea-fulham-hudson-odoi/

[WhiteJC]

Fabrizio Romano says Premier League side are only £4m away from signing 'incredible' Chelsea player
Fabrizio Romano has stated that Fulham are getting closer to the price Chelsea are hoping for to sign Callum Hudson-Odoi.

He took to Twitter to claim that the West London side are halfway to the £8m fee the Blues are asking for to let the player leave.

It has been reported in recent days that a move just down the road is looking the most likely route for Hudson-Odoi to leave the club.

The Blues are keen to get the winger off their books for a number of weeks now, and they made the decision to not take him on their pre-season tour of the United States.

Despite hopes of the owner Todd Boehly that he would be able to turn around things while on loan last season, it looks as if they have all come to an acceptance that he would be best off leaving the club.

He still has the backing of a lot of his teammates. Conor Gallagher has previously described him as 'incredible'.



https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/news/fabrizio-romano-says-premier-league-side-are-only-4m-away-from-signing-incredible-chelsea-player/

[WhiteJC]

Fulham offer £4 million for Chelsea forward Callum Hudson-Odoi transfer
Premier League rivals Fulham have offered Chelsea around £4 million to acquire the services of Callum Hudson-Odoi, according to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano on Twitter.

The Cottagers are interested in getting a hold of the 22-year-old this summer. To that end, the Craven Cottage side have already put in a bid for the winger.

However, it remains to be seen whether the Blues will accept the proposal. The Stanford Bridge side are looking to get £8 million for the English national. But Marco Silva's team are optimistic about getting a deal over the line in the coming days.

Hudson-Odoi made his way through the youth ranks at Chelsea. The youngster was considered one of the best prospects to have come out of our academy in recent years.

In the 2018/19 term, the 22-year-old broke into the Blues' first-team setup. Subsequently, the winger's influence in the team started to grow. However, with the arrival of Thomas Tuchel in the West London club's dugout, the English national's game time started to dwindle.

Subsequently, last summer, Hudson-Odoi joined Bayer Leverkusen on a season-long loan. Unfortunately, the forward was unable to make much of an impact in Germany. He made 21 appearances in all competitions for the Bundesliga outfit, scoring one goal and providing one assist.

At Chelsea, Mauricio Pochettino has an abundance of attacking talent at his disposal out wide. The likes of Raheem Sterling, Noni Madueke and Hakim Ziyech are at Mauricio Pochettino's disposal.

Mykhaylo Mudryk and Nicolas Jackson have been doing well during pre-season as well. Also, Christopher Nkunku has been added to our ranks this summer.

Therefore, competition for places in the attack is arguably going to be immense at the Stamford Bridge side next season. Hudson-Odoi seemingly needs to restart his career. Whether the 22-year-old will be able to do that at Fulham remains to be seen.



https://www.astamfordbridgetoofar.com/2023/07/fulham-offer-4-million-for-chelsea-forward-callum-hudson-odoi-transfer/

[filham]

Lots of rumours throughout the summer on Fulham's possible new signings. In particular we seem to be chasing the option of either Bassey and Saliso as a new centre back. With Tosin probably leaving and Ream injured this is a critical position to be filled.

There seems a danger here that our efforts are being dragged on too long and could fall between two stools.
Come on Fulham it is make your mind up time, lets get one of them signed.