New signings: Palhinha can reinforce Fulham midfield

The Fulham team began returning to Motspur Park for pre-season today. There were the initial medical check ups, before the hard work begins. The players will return in stages, with those who spent time on international duty arriving back later than others who had a quieter off-season menstruation. The university players had their first sessions earlier in the calendar week likewise before a pre-season that will see the nether-18s and under-21s head to Portugal — their kickoff overseas tour since the outset of the pandemic.

Marco Silva'due south seniors practise not accept any new faces to meet even so. This week was felt to be a decisive one for getting new players through the door. And it still might be, providing the last details are ironed out on some pending transfers.

Information technology may feel a chip like Waiting for Godot but Fulham are still close to signing Manor Solomon and Joao Palhinha, of Shakhtar Donetsk and Sporting Lisbon. There are agreements in identify for both players and although neither is even so fully over the line, the expectation remains that they volition join Fulham.

Their situations tin can modify quickly, of course. In Solomon's case, a fee of around £6 1000000 (€vii one thousand thousand) has been agreed with Shakhtar and the player has been very great to move to Craven Cottage for some fourth dimension. There is a piffling frustration, though, that this bargain is non yet completely sealed, and dubiousness equally to exactly why.

It is complicated by the temporary regulations that take been imposed by FIFA that permit foreign players registered to Ukrainian clubs to play elsewhere. Ukrainian clubs have the right to append their contracts until June 30, 2023 due to the ongoing war in the country.

The only exception is if a mutual agreement is found between a actor and their lodge by Thursday, June 30 this year. After this engagement, Solomon is finer a costless agent for 12 months, although his Shakhtar contract runs until December next year.

French side Nice are understood to have fabricated contact this week following the date of coach Lucien Favre, with reports in French republic further detailing the former Dortmund coach'due south strong desire to learn Solomon. After months of talks and negotiations, and toing and froing, the expectation remains withal that Solomon volition move to Fulham. But as with anything in football, the door remains ajar until everything is signed off.

An understanding has been reached with Shakhtar Donetsk for Estate Solomon (Photo: Emmanuele Ciancaglini/CPS Images/Getty Images)

That applies to the case of Palhinha, whose move appears to take hit a small delay. The Able-bodied has been told conflicting data regarding the exact nature of the issue. Reports in Portugal have referenced an issue concerning agent committee, and it is known Sporting did give a mandate to agent Jorge Mendes to sell Palhinha to an English club.

However, Fulham are believed to have negotiated an agreement for Palhinha with Sporting, worth around £17.2 million (€20 meg), and with the histrion. The sense at the moment is this issue is unlikely to derail the understanding altogether at this point, rather delay it.

If they practice both arrive, every bit expected, information technology would point a strong first step in the transfer market past Fulham. Both players played in the Champions League concluding season and both would slot seamlessly into Marco Silva's team.

Palhinha is a defensive midfielder and would offer something different to the outgoing Jean Michael Seri, who is understood to have his centre on a move dorsum to Galatasaray after he was included on Fulham's release list. Palhinha is a defensively solid and imposing actor. He is a Portugal international with an eye on the World Cup later this yr, and has been a target for Wolves. He would provide some steel at the base of midfield. At 26, he arrives nigh his prime and looks good value.

And so, too, does Solomon, if not more than so. The 22-twelvemonth-old is another full international, with Israel, and would immediately provide competition for Neeskens Kebano. They are similar players stylistically — excellent dribblers who thrive in one-on-one scenarios. Alongside Aleksandar Mitrovic and Harry Wilson in assault, that will ensure variation in the Fulham front end line.

That Fulham are pursuing such loftier-level players is reassuring. They are the types of players needed to bridge the clangorous gap that awaits them in the Premier League. Clubs who stabilise for more than one yr at this level have a distinct financial reward considering they receive more than than £100 million annually through circulate rights, and that is reflected in their playing squads. The room for error in recruitment is side by side to zippo for promoted teams. Even with successful transfers, in that location's no guarantee of survival. New signings, quite simply, have to improve the team by a margin. And these ii seem to accept the potential to turn the dial.

There is even so much more to do. Centre-half feels especially acute, considering that there is only Tosin Adarabioyo, Tim Ream and the out-of-favour Terence Kongolo on the books. This is an area of the squad that acquired such angst ii years ago after promotion. Will it do and then once more?

A glance at Fulham'south initial fixtures, with 4 of last twelvemonth's summit 6 to face in their first vii games, and ii west London derbies in the mix too, indicates a demand to exist as potent as possible defensively for the opening days of the campaign. In that location is no doubt that Silva wants his summer concern done early. Unlike clubs college upward the in the Premier League food chain, Fulham are agile on several fronts and have a broader pool of targets open to them, with some players falling into it every bit the window progresses and others finding other homes. It is why their list of targets is extensive.

At that place will exist more signings beyond Solomon and Palhinha, and again, some of the names suggested offer encouragement. The club have been linked in Italy with centre-half Alessio Romagnoli, a Serie A winner with Air conditioning Milan, and Luca Pellegrini, the Juventus left-dorsum. Both links concerning Fulham's interest are thought to accept some truth to them, although signing the former would be a big coup.

Fulham are also looking at other right-dorsum targets, including Kevin Mbabu of Wolfsburg. They are still interested in Neco Williams after his loan spell final season to provide competition to Kenny Tete, but Liverpool'due south asking price, believed to exist around £15 1000000, has so far proved prohibitive.

Talks continue for Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno and Manchester United'southward Andreas Pereira. Fulham accept submitted a bid for Pereira, who spent last season on loan at Flamengo, worth £8.6 meg, potentially rising to £11 meg.

But with players back in the edifice, at that place is understandable frustration that Fulham accept not got anything over the line all the same.

There are promising signs . But that volition not be translated fully into optimism until the recruits are standing in Motspur Park, with their shirts held aloft.

(Top photo: Carlos Rodrigues/Getty Images)

Source: https://theathletic.com/3389423/2022/06/29/fulham-transfers-promising-signs-with-solomon-and-palhinha-but-no-incomings-yet/

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