Fulham Summer '06 Transfers

From www.4thegame.com:

Fulham are reported to be lining up a summer swoop for Besiktas' highly sought after Egypt international midfielder Ahmed Hassan.

The 30-year-old was instrumental in his country's recent African Cup of Nations success on home soil and was handed the Player of the Tournament award.

Having made over 100 appearances for his country, Hassan had already helped Egypt to success in the same tournament back in 1998 and is regarded as one of their most influential players.

He has enjoyed a fairly successful campaign in Turkey with Besiktas, who are coached by former Fulham boss Jean Tigana, but is out of contract in the summer and unlikely to stay with the club.

News of Hassan's possible availability on a Bosman free transfer has alerted a number of European clubs, including Werder Bremen, Marseille and Panathinaikos.

Additional note from me: The Mirror is reporting that Newcastle is also interested.

 

RE: Fulham Summer

Not sure how much Besiktas would be asking for Hassan, but it is worth looking into. I do think the priority in the summer though should be on getting a central defender or two who can step right in and play. Also, a proven striker to help up front would be ideal as well.

 

Sounds like Mohammad Hassan, you know that WWE wrestler...

 

In the Gossip Column on BBC Sunday 1 of the papers said we were interested in Cameron Jerome for 3M.

 

Ahmad Elrich is going to be loaned out to Norwegian Club FC Lyn in the next few days. I see this as good news for him and the club. He has obviously not done much if anything this season and it will be good for him to get some first team action at another club in hopes he can develop a bit more.

 

The WWE is ridiculous...

 

from BBC Wednesday gossip column:

Fulham midfielder Papa Boupa Diop's contract talks with the club have been put on hold. (Daily Mirror)

 

Rumours have already started swirling about Liverpool, Manchester City and Aston Villa all being after the signature of Steed Malbranque. This summer will be big for Fulham and Malbranque. He only has one year remaining on his contract with Fulham and if they want to get some cash for him, they will need to sell him this summer.

Thus, he will either sign an extension this summer or he will unfortunately be on his way out. After a lousy 2004-2005 season, it is my belief that Steed has played well this season and while still only 25 or 26, is young and has a number of good years ahead of him. I really hope we can hold onto him.

 

Repartee on FFC sites will be hot and heavy this summer, indeed.
CC has shown he can do much with little but, while he WAS able to keep the potential big stars, he hasnt shown improvement by doing that.

The time for 'place-holding' is over.... and I suspect ownership will be in the mood to 'make or break'.
.........
I'd like to note I am not exactly a 'cc out!' fan. And I think posting assumptions on the offal is counter productieve, here and t-f-i, is the place to do it.

 

Ooops, I am a 'CC OUT!!!!' fan... and I have posted it on the offal board.

 

At this point, I think I am a CC out guy. Not because I think he is a terrible manager, but similar to what Petty mentioned, I think it is simply time for a change. I think the upper management feels this way as well. In essence, Cookie has taken this ship about as far as he can. I think if Big Mo does decide to inject some cash into the club, we are going to need a manager who is more experienced in the transfer market and who will get the players in because of the club and because the manager's name. Martin O'Neil would definitely be that guy.

That being said, if Fulham is just going to hire a bum to replace Coleman, I am not for that, but if a name manager comes in and takes over, I would be okay with that.

 

I think we should sell Malbranque. We could probably get at least 7M probably even more. Steed is a great player, but the money we get could really help us. Also if LFC offers money Malbranque would probably want to leave anyway.


CC needs to go. We are better than 15th surely? We've been close to relegation the last 2 seasons and havent really done anything in the cups as well. Martin O'Neill would be a great choice as manager.

 

We have been linked with Simon Cziommer. He is on loan at Roda from Schalke. Ajax and Feyenoord are supposed to be interested as well. He has 7 goals in 11 games for Roda. Whatever league you play in thats absolute class. Also hes supposed to be out of contract.

 

In thinking about potential targets to join Fulham this summer, one of the first places to look is at the teams getting relegated. That being said, we are shaky in defense and if Birmingham City goes down, Matthew Upson is going to be a wanted man.

I read today that newly promoted Reading will try to sign Upson. If that is the case, I find no reason to think Fulham should and could not sign him. He would bring experience and youth as he is only 26 years old.

Additionally, he does not seem to get injured all that often. Including this campaign, he has appeared in 90 Premiership matches over the last three seasons. That shows durability which is a trait missing from a good number of current Fulham players.

Thus, if Birmingham goes down, Upson has to be a target for us! That being said, down, down, down, Brummies goin' down!

 

Well, Tom, Elliot was hardly ever on the injury list, before.....

 

So, if you were in charge of Fulham what players would you go after? What positions do you feel need the most improvement?

Do you think Al Fayed will open up his checkbook this summer or will Fulham continue to spend like a Coca-Cola Championship team?

Are there any players currently on the team you would like to see gone?

 

Fulham is now rumoured to be after Julio Arca of Sunderland. He has been one of the few bright spots for that team this campaign. He is a left-sided midfielder and would cost us somewhere between 1.5-2 million pounds.

http://217.158.112.238/vsite/vcontent/c ... em,00.html

 

Today Fulham is being linked with American international right-back Steve Cherundolo. Perhaps it is just me, but if Fulham is going to spend cash this summer on defense, I would think a few center-halves and a left-back would be the priority. We have two rigth-backs that are young and energetic in Moritz Volz and Liam Rosenior. This signing would not make much sense to me.

http://217.158.112.238/vsite/vcontent/c ... em,00.html

 

I agree that Onyewu would be a great signing. He is young, he is strong, he is athletic and likely would fancy a move to England. Not sure how much he would cost, but Fulham would be wise to look into it.