Two More Signings That Fulham Need To Complete Before The Close Of The Transfer Window
Fulham showed an old frailness on Saturday when relinquishing a lead at home and failing to see out their game for three points against Norwich.
The club have kept some continuity by ensuring that they held strong and said no to big money for the likes of Kevin McDonald (Nottingham Forest), Tom Cairney (Newcastle) and Ryan Sessegnon (Liverpool and Tottenham), as well as re-signing Chelsea players Tomas Kalas and Lucas Piazon.
The main area of concern as far as I’m concerned is at left-back, as Scott Malone was sold to Huddersfield Town. It’s that area we look first.
Left-Back
Malone was brilliant last season and the manager knew fully well he would be important but difficult to replace. Ryan Sessegnon has indeed played there plenty of times but he really is better than that and should go back up the field to play as one of those three men behind the striker.
Not only would Sessegnon be slightly halting his career by playing in the back four, but also his presence at the front end for Fulham in the final third of last season coincided with their best form; a run which led to them usurping Leeds for 6th place.
Bordeaux’s Maxime Poundje has been linked with the club in recent weeks and could be the answer to this situation, allowing the young England hopeful to step forward and complement Piazon, Aluko, Ayite and Kebano.
Striker
Fulham were a high scoring unit last term but the managed that with swashbuckling full-backs and high scoring wide and midfield players, such as Cairney, Aluko and Johansen. They cannot rely on that all over again though and their penchant for throwing away a half-time lead is for me directly related to them not having a 20-goal striker.
Cauley Woodrow is still young but has been tried and doesn’t really look like the answer. Aboubakar Kamara hasn’t set pulses racing with his arrival. While the likes of Ayite and Aluko can fill in, they aren’t enough of a presence in the No.9 position.
Diego Rolan has been linked with the club all summer along with Che Adams and Atdhe Nuhiu, and any one of those would represent some sort of improvement on what is already available to Slavisa Jokanovic. It’s an obvious statement perhaps, but finding a prolific striker is hugely important for a promotion bid and Fulham already missed the boat with some players. How good would Ashley Fletcher have been at Craven Cottage?