Why Fulham Must Retain Cyriac Next Season
Fulham could be looking once again to loan Oostende forward Cyriac for the whole of next season. The 26-year-old was on loan at Craven Cottage for six months last season, where Fulham very nearly got promoted to the Premier League.
Apparently, Oostende seem keen to lose Cyriac before the beginning of next season and so the opening of the summer transfer window has given several clubs the opportunity to talk to the Ivorian. Last season’s loan has put Fulham in the box seat in terms of landing the Ivorian international permanently.
Having arrived for the second half of last season to boost Fulham’s attacking options, Cyriac didn’t truly hit the heights in what was already a well established and slick attacking line-up. Fulham did not take up their option to keep the player on a permanent deal after his loan was over, though they now are considering taking him back knowing that their team might get depleted in case of potential departures.
The West London side, as well as mulling over a permanent move, remain open to the possibility of taking the Ivory Coast man back on loan for next season and it seems Oostende are open to any sort of deal. In his 9 Championship games (playing only 158 minutes though), Cyriac managed a single goal and did not get enough time to truly show what he can do.
Previous to this, in Belgium, Cyriac netted over 51 goals and played his part at Belgian First Division level. He has the talent to do well in the Championship. Fulham cannot afford to turn down any attacking talent at the moment, despite having Sone Aluko and Floyd Ayite at their disposal.
Fulham struggled all year to find a good option at no.9. Chris Martin’s 10 goals were never going to be enough to carry them to where they wanted to be, while Lucas Piazon is talented but clearly not an out-and-out goal scorer. Cyriac may not be any Luis Suarez, but the way to look at it is that the 26-year-old can net more than 10 and so would represent some sort of improvement on last season’s central striking option.
It would be important for Fulham to add Cyriac to their lineup to cope with the possible departures this summer and if they can sign Cyriac and hold on to their current bunch of stars as well, then it would be a perfect summer window for the Londoners.