please log in to view this image Fulham boss Martin Jol admits midfielder Mahamadou Diarra may not play again this season because of a knee problem. The Cottagers star initially picked up the problem on international duty with Mali in September and has been restricted to just five appearances since, the last of which came at the start of December. Diarra missed the African Cup of Nations earlier this year and Jol admits the 31-year-old may not be able to play for the Cottagers again during the current campaign. "Diarra is still not right," Jol told the Fulham Chronicle. "He will need quite a while to come back, hopefully before the end of the season. He had an operation, looked better and then had a rest and it was even more painful." "Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we will know more." Looks like he'll have trouble making the cut, when it comes to contract renewal. Although as we know with Grygera, Jol has a 'soft spot' and will give him every possible chance. Shame, but we always knew there would be a risk, although as Bidley said in the other thread maybe we should have tried harder to persuade him against returning to the Mali side.
A great miss for us this season but if we sign some midfielder's in the close season then I don't expect him to be offered a new contract.
It could be a case of allowing him to train with us next season to see if he gets fit, as we did with Grygera. If he doesn't, we don't lose anything. If he does, we make the judgement then as to whether we offer him a contract. If he gets a better offer than that elsewhere (QPR, perhaps? ) then let him walk. He looked good when he played, but we have to be pragmatic here.
This. He was sensational at the beginning of the season and it's a shame that things are how they are.
