Saw this morning Fulham are interested in a winger from the Spanish league called Angel Lafita, a comment from Jol says he would enjoy our style of play, and could be a part of the completed puzzle we are looking for. It appears that there are 3 other Prem clubs also interested. Fulhams C E O stated we have to sell to ease up the payroll before buying, possibly refering to our most expensive player. Anyone heard of this guy.Angel
It's always a tough point for fans to handle, that of payroll. While Fulham may have money to spend on transfers, it is important to remember that a player earning £20k a week will cost Fulham about £1.2m a year after NI and a player earning £50k (around the level AJ may well be on) costs the club about £3m after NI. We have players like AJ and Greening who, whilst decent enough players for us, certainly do not justify their wage. We need to cut this figure down if we want to sign a bigger name player.
Which "most expensive player" did you have in mind rosc? Wages do seem to be an issue. A definite problem is that there is a notional cap (£40k pw) but some players - Danny Murphy for example - have an in-built contract clause that if someone new comes in at a higher rate than them, they get an automatic increase. Balancing the books is not a simple one for one. Would have thought saving on Pantsil, Gera and Kamara would have created some space. However the CEO comments suggest that we may have to off load a further 3 top end earners to afford 2 new 'class' players.
The wages issue is another reason why I think we should be looking for younger, up-and-coming players rather than established premier league regulars. The talent is out there if you know where to look. Just don't tell Mrs Captain that I said that!
If you go by the Official Fulham web site we have 22 players in the first team squad including the 3 Goalkeepers. At the moment rumors are that Greening, Salcido, Stockdale, and maybe Johnson will be sold or loaned. Halliche hasn't proved himself as a Premier player. If you look at the Other Squad members page only Briggs has had a few games out of all the youngsters coming through. The Squad only has us with 3 strikers in Zamora, Johnson and Dembele. I for one wouldn't put Dembele or even Dempsey in an out and out striker category. My 3 to go would be Salcido, Halliche and Johnson. We need a better rightback than Kelly, someone like Onuha, or Bardsley. Then buy a striker like DeFoe or El Hamdaoui, or Bendtner, Sturridge on loan, for Johnson.
Saw in several newspapers that Newcastle,and others are attempting to take Sturridge on loan,though not perfect this would be a great short term solution for us ,a great foil for Zamora.
Time to think the unthinkable. If we're talking about which players to let go specifically to free up wages for new signings, then we need to look at the big earners whose absence wouldn't have a significant impact on the quality of the team. I agree that Salcido and AJ are prime contenders, and that Halliche hasn't proved himself and should go, although I'm not sure whether Halliche is likely to be on top money anyway. Of course well paid reserves are prime candidates, but of the players who see more regular action there are a couple who are worth considering. Schwarzer is probably one of our big earners, as we signed him without the need to spend on a transfer fee. If he went, putting Stockdale in as number 1 wouldn't have much if any impact on the quality of our first team. Similarly - and here's where I get controversial - Aaron Hughes is 31 and could conceivable lose his starting place to the 26 year old Senderos this season. With Briggs, Baird and, if he shapes up, Dan Burn in the background, it's a position where we aren't short of decent options. I'm not saying I want Hughes to go, and I'm not saying that he's past it. What I am saying is that a defence of Stockdale, Baird (or a new signing), Hangeland, Senderos, Riise the Elder wouldn't be any worse than one of Schwarzer, Baird (or a new signing), Hangeland, Hughes, Riise the Elder. If selling Schwarzer and Hughes along with AJ and Salcido enabled us to add, say, Jeffren and Sturridge to the attacking part of our team then the overall effect would be to improve the side.
Some rumours/possibly slightly more than rumours this morning:- Marcel Gecov who is a 23 yr old Czech defender from Slovan Liberec is flying into London today for a medical We have made a £2.8m offer for Swiss international and Palermo defender Pajtim Kasami We are looking at 28yr old Cameroonian defender Achille Emana from Real Betis I'm afraid I know nothing about any of them but perhaps some of you do?
Penguin, I don't have any knowledge of them either, but Wikipedia lists all three of the players you name as midfielders (attacking ones in the cases of Kasami and Emana), not defenders. DR, I'm in the same boat as you, but I presume that the older players who were well established before coming to us will have been able to command bigger wages when the signed for us, particularly if they didn't cost us a transfer fee. I'd like to add to my earlier post. In terms of freeing up wages without having a disastrous effect on the team, it's fairly likely that we could afford to let at least one of Duff, Davies, Dempsey or Dembele go, particularly if we are looking to sign another winger. Again, I'm not saying anything against those players but we have a lot of options in the wide positions, and the age of most of those options suggests that they are on good money. It will be interesting to see if any more of our favourites find themselves being moved out of the club either now or in January.
Sorry, I was so busy trying to get their names and existing clubs right that I somehow got positions wrong! Yes, they are all midfielders.
Greening has gone - a 3yar deal with Notts Forrest - so that frees up a fair amount (at aguess £25k pw). Salcido I doubt is at the top end but should go. Those two together would equal (or a tad over) ONE. AJ is at the top end and should make TWO. As to the third. I take your point about Hughes v Senderos Captain but feel we need a stong caucus of three at centre back given the heavy fixture list (optimistically looking to a good Euro run) and to allow for injuries. So not Hughes. Shwartzer must be a prime candidate for the reasons you give. Tempting. Of the four Ds (Duff, Davies, Dempsey and Dembele) we'd get the best deal for the latter two. However all them give the creativitity/ flexibility/ cover we desparately need. So not them either. Baird is Mr dependable and gives positional options. So not him. A cluster of bit part players, for example Riise the younger and Halliche, would meet the bill but that is more of a longer term strategy. My third is someone not yet mentioned and may be controversial also. Etuhu is number THREE.
I agree with your first two, C58, but not Etuhu. If we're looking to improve the squad, lower the average age and get another winger in, I think we should be looking to ship out Duff or Davies. I'd prefer the latter. EDIT: Having seen your latest thread, C58, I can see your thinking - perhaps you're right...
Not Etuhu, I think. He can expect to play a lot of games this season, based on the current squad. Unless we make any new signings or see a central midfielder step up significantly from the youngsters, we can expect any two from Murphy, Sidwell and Etuhu to be the starters in most games, particularly as we've sold Dikgacoi and Greening now. When I think about it in terms of age, Davies and Duff are the prime candidates if we had to release a winger. But both of them are better than all the others at certain things. Davies is the best crosser of the four, and is a reliable workhorse with a decent attacking threat. Duff has been our best player in spells over the last two years. I doubt that he's up to being an ever-present any more, particularly if we have a European run, but if Jol can judge when to leave him out to recharge his batteries, he could have a vital part to play in our season. Dempsey offers much more goal threat than any of the others, and Dembele has bags of skill (even if sometimes he doesn't know how to turn that into something meaningful). My big question is what style does Jol want us to play. He said something early on about liking attacking width. Duff and Davies are more like proper wingers, rather than Dempsey who tends to get drawn inside more often. I've not seen enough of Dembele on the wing to comment on how wide he plays. I think the biggest question marks over Dempsey and Dembele are going to be how Jol sees them fitting in to his style of play. It's probably best to keep hold of all four, at least until Jol has a chance to see which combinations work best for his set up. Hopefully, they will all stay and all play a big part in another memorable European season.
I maybe a pessimist, but i have a strange feeling about our team at the moment,several factors stand out for me.One we are lumbered with AJ who lets be honest has done very little at the club, apart from taking a 2mil + wage each year,the only 2 offers I understand were QPR,& WBA who would not pay the 2+ mil transfer fee and certainly no way his wage demands. To take whatever would release up 40k at least,alternative he stays another 13months, cost 2.5 mil then walks on a free.
If the rumour regarding Emana is true it would be an excellent signing. I have actually seen this guy play. Last year I was in Seville for a week and my hotel happened to be about half a mile from Real Betis's ground, the Benito Villamarin. On the Saturday they played a home match and I went along out of curiosity as they were playing Grenada which is a bit of a Derby. That day Castro & Molina (he scored 2) were the strikers (looking this up from the programme) and Emana made a very effective contribution to the match, feeding balls in for the strikers and creating his own chances. He cuts inside very well, or he did that day. He had at least 6 decent shots on goal and Granada's goalkeeper - Roberto - was brilliant in saving a couple of them I seem to remember. I particularly remember a rocket from the edge of the penalty area which he just tipped over. Real Betis won 4 - 1 on the day and I got my money's worth.
Thanks Fulhaman. You can't beat a first hand account of someone, particulary when it's someone that most of us (well, me certainly) had never heard of. He sounds like he'd be a good signing. Do you remember whether he was playing on the right or the left that day, and do you know whether he can play on the other flank/in the middle as well?
