Went down to MP yesterday,and had a chat with several of the club employees, and the rumor,"true or false who knows" is that Fulham will definitely be loosing at least one of its stars in the summer window,a tentative offer has been lodged, with a cash plus player offer."Demps being most likely. The same source said that having worked there for the last 8 years,he has never seen so much scouting activity from other clubs,at both academy and reserve games. A wonderful compliment to our coaching and backroom scouting staff. Who will it be my guess 1 Clint Dempsey 2 M Dembele 3 B Hangaland 4 This may be an outsider, Frei. Hopefully none.keep all and by a couple of quality defenders.
Sounds likely, ros. I don't think Frei is such an outsider, he'd been turning a few heads this season. It's got to be Demps though, I reckon Liverpool and/or Spuds are after him. Both would ruin him, IMO.
Bidders. Agree about your choice of clubs that could ruin his career,if he should go I would hope its to Man U, there we could expect a good cash offer,an possibly a quality player exchange. But with 2 young children and settled in the London area,I think,Spurs or Arsenal.
I can't see Dempsey going to Man United, although DemPele to Utd wouldn't be a bad outside bet. I think Dempsey to Arsenal is the most likely one to be lined up. I think the time when the big clubs might have come in for Hangeland has been and gone, so I don't see us getting offers for him. I suspect that we'll lose both of the aforementioned Ds one way or another this summer. I hope I'm wrong in at least one case if not both, but with good youngsters coming through, it won't necessarily be a disaster if it happens.
I've been dismissing speculation that Dempsey would be going anywhere, but with another batch of important goals, it's hard to imagine bigger clubs aren't watching. I can't see Spuds dropping Bale for Clint, or ManU dropping Nani, Giggs or Valencia for him, but there might be room for him at Arsenal, Chelsea or Liverpool. I still think it would be a mistake for him. He'll never be give the latitude at a bigger club that he's given here ... He's got a licence to shoot any time he likes, he barely plays defence - no way he'd be able to play like that for a big five club. He could find himself on the bench for an extended period. And who would we get to replace him? He's durable and he's prolific, a rare combination. Can't really see Hangeland moving, either. Three years ago, maybe, but he's been solid, not spectacular, this year and he's hitting that age when it doesn't make much sense. Dembele and Frei are the people I could see moving on, though I'd regret it.
I would much rather see Dembele leave than Dempsey, not that I want our own Pele to leave, but Clint is so much more important to the team. If DemPele could score or at least shoot straight he would be one of the best players in the league.
Frei's signed a new deal up to 2015 with an option for the club to extend for a year. I know contracts generally mean nothing, but I'm expecting us to hang onto him for at least a couple of years. Given everything he's said about it being a short career, wanting to play in the CL etc I can't see Demps signing a new deal so we either make him see out his contract and lose him for nothing or cash in now while he's at the top of his game. Tough as it will be to replace him I think we have to do the latter as long as the price is right. Watching Everton on MOTD the other night, if Spurs are going to come in for either Dempsey or Dembele I'd be tempted by a hefty cash + Stephen Pienaar deal for either. He's only on loan at Everton and would fit into our side very well in my opinion.
And it's those reasons that give us hope of keeping him, in my opinion. I was going to say, if player-plus-cash is the deal on the table then Spurs seems likely. They've loads of midfielders on their scrapheap such as Pienaar, Kranjcar, Bentley... If we're to do a deal, cash + Pienaar/Kranjcar would be good business. For Dempsey, mind; if Dempele were to go we'd need someone younger, IMO.
I don't expect Frei to leave, he has been given a chance by the club and I think he will get decent game time next season and for a player his age to get regular games in the Premiership is great so I can't see him going anywhere. I could see Dembele going to a number of clubs, Spurs being the front runners in my opinion. I wouldn't begrudge him a move but I do hope he stays. The most obvious one is Dempsey, I can see him going to Arsenal in the summer, and he deserves his chance in the Champions League so I would have no problem with him joining them, however if he was to join a club like Liverpool, a team currently just 3 points better off than we are, I would be very disappointed. Whichever one it is, we better be getting a decent first team player and not a squad player plus a few million.
Agreed, can't believe Liverpool see him as their answer to their goal-scoring problems Frei won't be leaving, he signed a long term contract extension very recently.
Yeah, I mentioned in another thread that I'd tried to get in to a reserve game at MP recently but was 'barred' since it was behind closed doors and for scouts and officials only. I did get a sneak at the guest list however and there were at least 60. We know Dan Burn is of interest to Middlesborough. Other reserves apparently being spcifically noted are Stephen Arturworrey and Ronnie Minkwitz. And of course, Marcello Trotta. Apart from those you mention, I suspect David Stockdale may tempt someone (L'pool ???). On Demps - the papers are full of Arsenal's interest but at the reputed £10m? Maybe if they included Ramsey.
Classic Arsenal - low ball offer because he has a year left on his contract. I hope it's more than that, but I have a bad feeling his contract and age will go against us.
If we're talking cash plus a player I think it's Dembele and Spurs again. Pienaar wouldn't be a bad addition, I'd push for Huddlestone who is, potentially, an international player but seemed to get a bit lost in recent years. I re-read the programme yesterday and was interested by Dempsey's interview. I think both first team football and CL is important to him. I really think he will go overseas again because no team in England can guarantee that to him. I hope to god Arsenal don't want him, we'd be lucky to squeeze £9m from them for a player who is worth about £14-16m. This is all great news though, we can carve out a decent niche here as the development team (and over time build on that). If Dembele, Frei, Dempsey and Hangelaand were to move on to bigger clubs it only goes to show the new young talent what a stint at Fulham can do for their careers.
I'd hope we'd get more than £9-10m for Dempsey, but in the last year of his contract that is probably a fair price - £10m in the summer or see him sign a pre-contract in January and leave for nothing at the end of the season? It's a face that in almost every case a players perceived value drops if the buyer knows they can get him for nothing in less than a year. If he doesn't move on and doesn't sign a new contract, we may well end up selling for even less in January. Anything over £10m is a good price in the circumstances. If he's reluctant to re-sign, why not offer him a contract with an escape clause if a Champions League club offers over a certain price? That protects Fulham's interests in the case of him leaving, and also gives him the guarentee that we won't (and can't) stand in his way if the chance to play for one of the really big boys comes along.
I agree with offering him an escape clause. The only other alternative is if Jol can convince the players that there is an outside chance of european qualification next season (ridiculous I know). We're 16 points off at the minute but with a bit of investment and an improvement in our away form we could conceivably get to 60-65 points, which might be enough. What's in our favour is the other clubs around us. 3rd and 4th are no longer nailed on, whichever of Chelsea, Newcastle, Spurs and Arsenal get it- they are beatable. I think Spurs will implode over the summer, with Harry's exit swiftly followed by Bale, Modric and Adebayor. Chelsea have got a hell of a job to rebuild, how do you shift Terry and Lampard? Arsenal will improve, Newcastle too- but might be stretched thin next year. If we can hold on to everyone and bring in a couple other players we're not in a bad position, along with Everton and Liverpool- to make a push for the 4th spot. I don't think we can do it, but if the players can be convinced by Jol that there is a chance we might keep hold of them. I'd be happy just to finish well away from relegation next season though! The great escape scarred everyone I think!
I agree with you here, Silkship. There isn't the gulf between us and the teams above that there has been in past seasons and the results and performances against them reflect that: unbeaten against Arsenal and Chelsea, beat Newcastle 5-2, gave Spurs, City & Man Utd a decent run for their money on at least one occasion each. The best comparison is with Newcastle - in terms of our best XI v their best XI I don't think there's a lot in it. What they have that we don't are two centre forwards (Ba & Cisse) who can score 15-20 goals a season. Ba's gone off the boil a bit lately, but those two were probably the signings of the season and are the difference between Newcastle sitting where we are in mid-table and challenging for the top 4. If - and it's a massive if - we could keep the current squad together and find strikers who can stick the ball in the net on a regular basis 60-65 points is realistic. We're going to finish this season around 50 points, but I can think of enough games that were drawn or lost by the odd goal where a prolific centre forward might have made the difference and closed the gap between us and the top 6. Having said all that, I've been convinced all year that whatever happens this is Dempsey's last season at Fulham. £10m is probably about right for a player who turns 30 next year, and is what Arsenal paid for Arteta, I can't see us getting much more than that.
If Dempsey is sold it might be that he will go abroad to a club in Italy or someone like PSG. If rumours are correct Arsenal have already bought Podolski, if they keep Van Persie, then you'd think Dempsey would only be able to compete for a midfield place. That would mean him going up against Wilshere, Song, Arteta, Rosicky, Walcott, Chamberlain, Ramsey, Benayoun. Personally I think Dempsey is suited to our style of play and may struggle to have the same impact elsewhere. Think Dembele may be a target for a top 6 club, lets hope we are looking at a replacement. I'd take a look at Dries Martins of PSV or Maarten Martens of AZ, both have impressed me. I think most top 6 clubs will look at Eden Hazard first before Dembele. Can't see Hangeland moving, but depends if the Spurs management changes, I could see maybe the new man wanting Premier experience, if the rumour both Gallas, Dawson and King are too injury prone. With Frei any club coming in for him now would be taking a chance, as he's hardly a regular, and young players can struggle to be consistent.
My only concern with Frei is that while he may not be a regular, a big club can always swoop early - look at Smalling. We got one season of the odd appearance here and there out of him and he was gone.
We are slightly advantaged by the fact that Kerim has been here longer than Smalling was and is a part of our academy so is likely to have a lot of friends here. Of course this could all be redundant if Utd come calling again.
Did someone say earlier that Frei is on a lengthy contract? If so we only sell him if the offer makes sense for us. The Smalling example is a good one: does anyone think that Utd underpaid on him? Does anyone think that we've missed him given the strength in depth we have at centre back? We sold him because it was a great offer that didn't weaken the side overall and provided funds for strengthening elsewhere. For what it's worth, I don't think we'll be selling Frei anytime soon. If we do it will be on our terms.
