Fulham’s offer for signing ‘expected in next few hours’ – Silva’s side arrive late to hijack deal
Atalanta are expected to face a late battle from Fulham to sign AC Milan’s Charles De Ketelaere, according to TuttoMercatoWeb.
On Thursday, the two Serie A sides reached an agreement on the basis of a loan deal with an option to buy.
In search of a new attacking midfielder, Fulham are particularly focusing on Serie A, where the 22-year-old has been identified as one of their targets.
It’s claimed an offer from Marco Silva’s side is ‘expected in the next few hours’. They are ready to propose a fee of less than €20m, which wouldn’t be taken into consideration at the San Siro, at least initially.
The Belgium international wants to continue in Italy, move to Spain or join a top Premier League side. Fulham don’t match his desire which is why the former Club Brugge star is not in favour of joining the London club, at least according to the Italian report.
TMW say Milan have ‘given their word’ to Atalanta, at least for the ‘next 48-72 hours’. It’s now down to the latter and De Ketelaere to sort out any differences.
Atalanta president Antonio Percassi has been dreaming of signing the player. The report says he’ll ‘probably’ do it soon but Fulham will ‘try to get in the way’.
It’ll be ‘very hard’ for the English club because Atalanta are convinced they can close the deal for De Ketelaere.
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JUST IN : Fulham set to cash in on Willian just two weeks after signing…
Is this the best bit of transfer business this summer? Fulham set to cash in on Willian just two weeks after signing him for free: report
Fulham could be set to make profit on Willian, who only re-signed for the club in the last few weeks
(Image credit: Getty Images)
Fulham could be about to receive a transfer fee for a player they signed for free less than three weeks ago, in what might just be the most bizarre/weirdest/best bit of transfer business this summer.
The Cottagers re-signed Willian on a one-year contract on July 17, with the club retaining the option of adding another year. The Brazilian spent last season at Fulham, but left following the expiry of his contract.
Nottingham Forest made him an offer, but Willian ultimately decided to return to Fulham. However, he could be on the move a lot sooner than expected, after receiving a proposal from Saudi Arabia.
According to The Athletic, Al-Shabab have offered Willian the chance to double his wages to over £200,000-a-week on a one-year contract, and are willing to pay a fee to bring him to the Middle East.
While the report suggests Fulham haven’t received an offer from Al-Shabab, the Premier League side will want a fee for the 34-year-old. Transfermarkt currently values Willian at £2.5m, considering his age and length of contract.
They could, therefore, make a healthy profit on an ageing player they managed to bring to the club for free just weeks ago. Willian might opt to stay at Fulham, however, as he’s clearly happy to stay in London – where he’s also played for Chelsea and Arsenal.
After signing for the club, Willian said: “I’m completely happy. Happy to sign one more year with Fulham. Happy to continue the work that I did last season with all my team-mates.”
Along with Willian, Fulham have also signed Calvin Bassey from Ajax and Raul Jimenez from Wolves this summer. Aleksandar Mitrovic looks destined to leave, though, with the Serbian striker set to force a move through amid heavy interest from Saudi Arabia as well.
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Fulham have released a Barbie pink away kit, and Margot Robbie actually has a link to the club.
Meanwhile, the FourFourTwo season preview of Fulham looks at why Marco Silva will consolidate the club in the Premier League in the upcoming campaign.
All other 91 clubs in the top four tiers of English football have also been previewed.
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture’s websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
