So here we go, I've turned into the best Scout in the world yet again- so if any of Fulham's Scouts are reading this feel free to pass this work off as your own. I'd love to sign almost all of the players on this list (with a few included because of the inevitable links with us), because otherwise I wouldn't have listed them- but in some cases they're more of a conceptual player as to what we need and a player that would fit said requirements.
Anyway, there's a lot of players to discuss- so I won't ramble aimlessly anymore.
Goalkeeper
Daniel Bentley (Southend/Free Agent)
Of all of the positions, Goalkeeper's the one where I'd say we're most secure. Between Bettinelli, Lonergan and Joronen fresh off signing a new contract there's not a massive need for a Keeper. However, should there suddenly be a need for one- I'd look no further than Bentley. To me he's the best Keeper in League 1, and with his Contract situation being up in the air at the time of writing this- the possibility of getting him basically for Free is mouthwatering to quite a lot of Clubs I would assume. As I said, there's not an urgent need for a Keeper- but he was worth mentioning.
Defenders
This is the obvious area that needs to be addressed this summer. If we could even halve the goals we concede for next season, we'll already be in a pretty good position to get Playoffs given our Goalscoring potential. It does look like we're trying to get our business done early in this window, between the Parker and Joronen Contract Extensions- and the Defence would be top of my list in-terms of getting the signings in early.
Especially with how last summer went, with us blindly chasing Lewis Dunk for basically the whole summer- only for him to turnaround and sign a new Contract with Brighton we need to get the Defenders business done early. I'm not saying we should overspend, but within reasonable financial constraints- we should put in offers that actually have a chance of being accepted early on. Rather than do the usual Fulham thing of haggling over who buys the player's plane/train ticket to bring him to Motspur Park.
Left-Back
With Garbutt going back, Tim Ream most likely being off and Sean Kavanagh (if he's even classed as a Left-Back now) being a lightweight I think it's safe to say we're basically Left-Backless in-terms of next seasons squad at present. I believe that Slavisa is going to bring players in with multiple systems in mind, with a 3/5 at the back being one of them. As such, any incoming players capabilities as a Wing-Back has to be taken into account for the Left and Right-Back positions.
Rico Henry (Walsall)
This may well turn into a non-runner should Walsall go up in the Playoffs (which I'd assume they're favourites to do), but if they don't- or maybe even if they do I'd be all over Rico Henry this summer. This kid is special, and I'm not just bandwagoning onto him after he was up for Young Player of the Year at the Football League Awards- he's been on my "radar' if you want to call it that for quite a few months now.
With Garbutt obviously going back to Everton regardless of how he performed, I made a point of keeping an eye out for Left-Backs with next season in mind and Rico Henry is the player I've just kept coming back to. I'd wager at least 20 of the 24 Teams in the Championship, and perhaps even a few Premier League clubs will have an interest in Henry this summer- so it'd be quite a coup should we pull it off. As I said, this is the time of year where we're allowed to be a bit optimistic/ambitious.
James Husband (Middlesbrough)
This is of course the obvious Left-Back to which we'll most likely be linked this Summer. Given Husband's two relatively successful Loan Spells, his suitability as a Wing-Back which he showed with one of the best individual performances of last season at Bristol City and crucially for me Boro going up- I'd say we've got a decent shout of signing him. I'd be all for Husband signing should it come off.
Ikechi Anya (Watford)
As I've already said, tactical versatility is going to be a big part of Slavisa's recruitment policy in my opinion. Enter Ikechi Anya, who can literally play anywhere along the Left-Hand side of the pitch. In my mind when I see how we line up next season, Anya's the starting Wing-Back when we're playing 5 at the back (presumably in Away Games) and then when we want to go more attacking Anya pushes up to Left-Mid and we have Husband or another Left-Back playing behind him.
If fit, Fredericks as one Wing-Back and Anya as the other would be a massive asset to us because we'll actually be able to hit teams on the break with their Pace which (apart from Fredericks) we've been lacking for a while now.
Anya's the obvious link given Slavisa's Watford connection, but even if it's not him as long as it's a player of the same mould I'm all for it. I've also made a point of limiting the number of Watford Players to one Defender, one Midfielder and one Attacker- because it's just lazy to talk about players who Slavisa's managed previously.
Right-Back
A more defensively solid Right-Back is needed in my opinion. Fredericks will be great as a Wing-Back provided he remains fit, but with doubts over his ability to remain fit- and when we go 4 at the back doubts over his defensive ability it's clear to me we need to be in for a Right-Back this summer.
Tendayi Darikwa (Burnley)
The first of the players I'm re-talking about from last summers "Ins" Blog, and it's someone who I'd be really keen on signing. Darikwa made the jump from Chesterfield to Burnley last summer, and he started off as a Starter for them and that was that. I'm not sure if he got injured, his performance levels dropped- or it was just a tactical tweak from Sean Dyche but he hasn't played for Burnley since January with Lowton coming in and playing Right-Back.
Given the fact he was out of the team at Championship level, and especially with the new TV Money coming into play for Burnley with their Promotion- for the right offer I'd have to assume Darikwa's available. As such, I'd be tentatively putting out feelers on the Darikwa front because should we be able to get him I'd be over the moon.
Centre-Back
Michael Madl (Sturm Graz)
Yes, he counts because as of writing this he's not technically our player. I do think it's a formality at this stage, and we're just waiting to have our Embargo officially lifted which I would assume will be soon. Unless of course we're not able to show proof as to our ability to stay within the FFP Regulations which is what's needed to get the Embargo lifted. If that was the case though, I'd expect Slavisa to resign and another Relegation Battle next season- so let's not go there unless we have to.
Brede Hangeland (Free Agent)
I've said this a few times on Twitter, and I'll obviously repeat it here. I've got a really weird feeling that we're going to re-sign Hangeland this Summer. I can't see Palace extending his Contract again, and it may just be because of the Baird Loan- combined with Parker's new contract and importance to us during the run-in but I think Slavisa may value a character like Brede in the Dressing Room.
The debate would obviously be a lot about whether Hangeland could still do a job, and whether he'd be worth his wages. His First-Team appearances have obviously been limited at Palace, but there was one game in particular on TV against Watford where I thought he was absolutely outstanding. Especially when considering the fact that at the time Ighalo and Deeney were on fire.
He wouldn't be a 46+ game season player, I'm not saying he would- but as the Central Centre-Back of a 3 (so Strikers couldn't get in behind him that easily) in a scrappy away game in Midweek against Burton Albion I'd absolutely hang my hat on him coming up big for us.
I don't think there's been many players in the last 10-15 years who have just "got" Fulham quite like Hangeland did, so as we attempt a most likely massive rebuilding job- having someone like Brede around the Club in any capacity would be good in my opinion.
Shane Duffy (Blackburn)
Paul Lambert's resignation was, to me, and I'm sure a lot of other people a massive advert from Blackburn saying "Our Players are available". We of course bought Cairney off them last summer, and I can see us going back to the well this summer either with Duffy (or Hanley of course) or another player I'll discuss later. I'd happily take Duffy or Hanley, and really it's just personal preference from what I've seen of both and what I know about both of them.
Timo Letschert (Utrecht)
This is probably THE most ambitious player on this whole list. That's of course funny because 95% of you have probably never even heard of him. So, let me introduce Timo Letschert to you. He's just an absolutely phenomenal defender, I suppose that's the main thing that should be said. I was looking at Eredivisie Defenders, because I remembered Brentford signing Bjelland from FC Twente- and Letschert just jumped out to me.
He's played a massive part in Utrecht's rise from 11th in the 14/15 season to 5th in the season just gone, and at present in the Playoffs for a Europa League spot. In the process he's ended up being rated as the (joint) best Defender in the Eredivisie by AD Sportwereld. So he's got some pedigree to him, capped off with him being in the Dutch Squad when they played England back in March.
Should Utrecht qualify for the Europa League (they drew 0-0 in the 1st Leg of the Semi's last night) this would become even more of a Non-Runner than it probably already is. However, I thought I'd just put his name out there- because signing someone like Letschert in-terms of general ability would be a massive step toward securing us defensively and I'd pay whatever was required to get him.
Ragnar Klavan (Augsburg)
I'll freely admit I didn't know anything about Klavan prior to him being linked with us, but looking at his Stats for Augsburg last season in both the Bundesliga and Europa League I'd be all for him signing should it come off. As with Letschert, albeit to a lesser extent I'd be surprised if we could actually pull the move off- but it'd be a massive statement of intent from us this summer should we be able to sign him.
Also, if he doesn't sign- it's only because of Stafylidis getting in his ear. So let's not be too disappointed if he doesn't eh?
Midfielders
We need a completely fresh approach to the Midfield for next season. For too long now, there's been an imbalance in the sense that we've either been too attacking and left ourselves exposed or too negative. The negative tactics worked for that week where we got three 2-1 wins with us just packing the Midfield, but that won't work over the course of a season and I don't think that's how Slavisa wants his teams to play Football anyway. Especially with the number of Midfielders I'd expect to be leaving- now is a real chance to completely re-work our Midfield with Wide-Men who can play wide and for the love of god a PROPER HOLDING MID.
Centre-Mids
Scott Parker's extension is one thing, but he can't play every game next season- I think even he'd freely admit that. As such, the only Centre-Mids other than Parker that I can see staying are Christensen (although Slavisa seems to fancy him wide) and Tunnicliffe. In short, we need to bulk up both in-terms of squad depth but also just physical stature. It's going to be interesting to see how we balance the "ugly" side of the game that is needed at this level, with the "ball-playing" side that Slavisa seems to value highly. I'm discussing a variety of players who would fit into either side of that, but balance is key.
Rohan Ince (Brighton)
It's worth the discussion because he was here on Loan, and we're in desperate need of a proper Holding-Mid to just make us a more defensively secure unit. More so in Home Games, my idea would be to have us playing what would in essence be a 4-4-2 and when we're attacking the Full-Backs would push up overlapping with the Wingers, we'd have one Ball-Playing Centre-Mid (Cairney) to keep the move flowing and then a Holding-Mid would be sitting back with the two Centre-Backs in case we're caught out.
As I said in my "Squad Assessment" Post though, I can't see Ince wanting to stay given the fact he was on the Bench (if he was lucky) for such a chunk of his Loan Spell- and the job for Slavisa/Rigg/Whomever else will have a hand in Transfers is to find a player like him.
Stefan Ilsanker (RB Leipzig)
With that in mind, enter Stefan Ilsanker. The reason I'm using Ilsanker specifically as the player to discuss as an alternative to Ince is because I've seen his name talked about on Friends of Fulham a bit with us supposedly being linked to him. I've got no idea where the supposed link has come from, because searching Twitter I've seen absolutely nothing about it- but I'd be all for the "rumoured" move should it come off.
For those of you unfamiliar with the story of RB Leipzig, they're basically a Corporate Club bought just outside of the German FA's (?) jurisdiction to stop the Fan Ownership rules coming into play- and Red Bull have basically bankrolled them from obscurity into the Bundesliga next season. For a team just promoted some of the players they've been linked with (Leno, Volland and Breel Embolo to name just three) are ridiculous. With Red Bull wanting Leipzig to compete with Bayern in the near future, I think it'd be safe to assume there'll be a high turnover of players from the ones that got them up- and that could of course mean Ilsanker being available.
Kevin McDonald (Wolves)
McDonald's partially on here because he was linked with us last summer, but mainly because he'd be in my opinion a phenomenal signing- especially for most likely a discounted fee which is seemingly what the case would be given his supposed falling out at Wolves. It was funny really, we'd just come off the back of beating QPR 4-0 and O'Hara was still in his Honeymoon phase at the Club- and McDonald came to the Cottage and just dominated. Given the previous links to him, I'd be surprised if there wasn't at least some rumours around him this summer- and I'd love it if those rumours came to fruition.
Adlene Guedioura (Watford)
The second Watford player on this list, and one that I could really see Slavisa wanting to go after this summer. With Watford seemingly wanting to really build a properly competitive Premier League team, I'd expect the fringe players like Guedioura (and Anya, although he's been starting recently I believe) who survived last summers mass changes to be on the out this summer.
I'd have loved it to be Almen Abdi, but unfortunately I don't think that's possible- but Guedioura's definitely someone who can do a job at this level. While he's not the youngest nowadays at 30, we need experienced heads in the side and Slavisa's obviously familiar with him.
Steve Sidwell (Stoke/Free Agent)
Let's face it, there's going to be links with him. Given the fact Stoke have Loaned him out, I think it's pretty safe to assume he's not going to get a contract extension there- and us along with Brighton and Reading are the three teams I'd expect to be linked heavily with him this summer. I don't want Sidwell back, and had I not been ill in January I'd have vocalised that then as well. Thankfully it doesn't seem like a Sidwell return would be on the cards with us supposedly nixing a move for him in January based on stats (or something like that, it was a weird month).
Tom Carroll (Spurs/Free Agent)
This is another of the potential signings that can definitely be classed as "ambitious". As I've already said, Slavisa definitely seems to want to emphasise the "Ball-Playing" part of Football in his teams- and with Carroll seemingly being up on a Free this summer it'd be a real statement of intent were we to go after him. We definitely wouldn't be the only takers for him this summer should he leave Spurs on a Free, and there may even be Premier League interest- but I'd love it if we could sign him.
Conor Hourihane (Barnsley)
Another of the players I suggested signing last summer who's making another appearance. He's reached double digits in Goals and Assists for Barnsley in what is now last season (10G 12A in the League/11G 17A total). Hourihane is obviously someone who I've rated for a while given his appearance in last summers version of this, and as a creative force to hopefully supplement Cairney's it would be great to see him in the team next season.
If Barnsley go up in the Playoffs this would become a complete non-runner, because going up Barnsley wouldn't sell one of their key players- and I reckon Barnsley will go up. However, if they don't there'll probably be a lot of takers for him.
Wide-Midfielders
Firstly, don't confuse having Wide-Men with just having Pace. Yes, I've suggested Ikechi Anya- and that's also why the names to follow are mainly Right-Sided players. However, Pace isn't everything for Wingers. You just have to look at Burnley really, they've gone up with Scott Arfield and George Boyd as their Wide-Men- and I don't think either could be described as "Pacey".
What we need is just intelligent footballers, crucially who are best used out wide. To me, the main positive of signing specifically a Right-Mid would be that Tom Cairney wouldn't be required out there in an "everyone fit" situation. If we play Cairney consistently centrally, either as a #10 or as I suggested above as the "Ball-Playing" Central-Midfielder in a 4-4-2 I think it'd be a safe bet that Cairney would be able to better his Goal Tally from last season and hopefully reach double digits.
Johann Berg Gudmundsson (Charlton)
This is one that I'd hope we could get done early, which goes back to the stuff in the Michael Madl section about the Transfer Embargo. While Iceland aren't likely to rip up any trees this summer in the Euros, given the new rules that mean (I think) the best 4 of the 6 3rd placed teams get through to the Knockouts- that's something Iceland could do given the Group they're in.
As such, Gudmundsson is likely to be busy for a section of the Summer and would presumably miss a bit of Pre-Season as well. Of all the names in this section of the Blog, Gudmundsson would be my #1 choice- because I just fundamentally believe he's an absolutely phenomenal talent. Especially at just 25, and with Charlton being in the state they're in we should be able to get Gudmundsson for a pretty reasonable fee considering the individual season he's had at Charlton in the midst of complete anarchy. The added bonus to Gudmundsson is the fact he can play as a #10 as well as on the Right, which goes back to what I've made a point of in-terms of options with versatility in mind.
Ben Marshall (Blackburn)
I've seen us linked with him recently, and this goes back to what I said in the Shane Duffy section about Blackburn most likely selling their best assets again should the right offer come in. Marshall's a player I'd be really keen on getting in, especially for the rumoured 1.5 Million that I saw talked about in relation to him when the rumour came out. It's all down to personal preference when discussing who people would prefer out of Marshall or Gudmundsson who are the two most realistic options for a Right-Mid signing this summer in my opinion.
One bonus to Ben Marshall, should he sign, is the fact that I believe he's ended up playing as a Full-Back at times for Blackburn. It all goes back to tactical versatility as I've said a number of times.
Nathan Dyer (Swansea)
Fresh off his rather limited role in Leicester's Title win, Nathan Dyer will be headed back to Swansea under a completely new regime to the one he left. That could mean he gets a second chance at Swansea of course, but I think it's more likely that Guidolin brings in his own players meaning Dyer would be even more surplus to requirements than he was last summer.
It feels like Dyer's been around forever, but he's still only 28- and his Pace and Dribbling Ability would have a massive impact in the Championship. This one's definitely in the "ambitious" column, but I wouldn't completely rule it out.
Lee Chung-Yong (Crystal Palace)
Lee Chung-Yong was someone who I was keen on signing in the January before last when he was still at Bolton. As it is, he went to Palace in Pardew's usual recruitment policy of signing a load of wingers and building them up in their own head and convincing them they're world-beaters to the point where there's a short-term reaction on the pitch from them in the absence of tactical knowledge.
Between Sako, Bolasie, Zaha and I believe even Dwight Gayle in recent times out on the Wings for Palace- combined with Lee's comments about Pardew in recent times I think it's safe to assume he won't be at Palace next season. I don't know where he's going to end up, but I definitely wouldn't be opposed to it if he's in a Fulham Shirt next season.
Attacking-Mids
Tom Cairney is hopefully going to be our primary "Creative" Midfielder next season. In a 4-4-2 he'd be the "Ball-Playing" Central Midfielder and when/if we go to a 5-3-2/3-5-2 he'd be the most advanced of the three in Central Midfield. Especially if Gudmundsson came in and his ability to play as a #10 this category would be largely moot, however there's still some names worth discussing.
Nick Powell (Man Utd/Free Agent)
The fourth and last player that I had on last seasons list that's making an appearance in this years. I was going to suggest him as a Loan, as I will with another player in this category a bit later on- but when I checked his Contract status I saw his Contract's up this Summer. Nick Powell on a Free would be a massive signing for us. It hasn't worked out for him at Man Utd, and I don't even think he's had a good time of it at Hull- but if he gets a run in a team and his confidence back he can be a real force at Championship level in my opinion.
Chris David (Go Ahead Eagles)
I'm really torn on this one. I'm predominantly bringing him up because there was those rumours of him being at the Bolton game and talking to Slavisa. My thing with him is, you can make the argument that David didn't work out because he wasn't fancied by Magath/Kit. Except for the fact that when we loaned him out to FC Twente, he wasn't even used in their First Team in a Sub capacity for the most part- and was playing for their "Jong" team for the majority of it. That to me says there's an issue with him as a player, and it's not the Managers lack of enthusiasm over him that's the problem.
Should he come back, I'd obviously get behind him and hope for the best. Predominantly as a Cup/Depth player, I wouldn't even mind it provided he's got his head on straight after the rumoured attitude problems he had during his previous run here. I've got full faith in Jokanovic to make the best decisions in the Clubs interest, I'll just say that.
Alex Pritchard (Spurs)
This season's pretty much been a Non-Starter for Pritchard. I think he was injured for a patch, and then he weirdly went to West Brom on Loan- had a couple of Sub Appearances, and then picked up a Hip Injury to end his season early. Pochettino seems keen on him, so I don't know whether he would even be available to be Loaned next season- but if he is we should at least insert ourselves into the mix to sign him.
Strikers
With 15 Goals and 6 Assists in the League having a 99% chance of leaving in Moussa Dembele, and the recent rumours of a further 21 Goals and 9 Assists leaving in Ross McCormack- the need for a top quality Striker is evident.
However, between the Mitroglou money and the £7 Million initial budget that's being banded around at the moment- then factoring in the cumulative fees we're likely to get for the likes of Matt Smith, Ben Pringle, Jazz Richards, Tim Ream and another dozen players who would command fees despite being surplus to requirements which should add up to at least £2-3 Million and then possibly another £12 Million from McCormack- we should without a doubt be in a position to spend big on a Striker.
It's all about how we distribute our Funds this summer, and the Defence in particular we can't afford to do on the cheap. However, just with the way the market works- especially if we look to the Continent for a number of our signings we can build a really good Defence while still being able to pay big money for a Striker.
The 4 names I'm about to list off cover the two possible avenues I think we're going to go down to sign said Striker, and should we sign any of the Strikers in this section I'd be absolutely over the moon.
Nemanja Nikolic (Legia Warsaw)
This is a name that a lot of you probably don't know, because he's spent the majority of his Career in his native Hungary- and then moved to Legia Warsaw last summer. I think Reading were interested in him at one point as well, and with his Goalscoring Record it wouldn't surprise me if there's a lot of interest in him this Summer. His record of 27 Goals in 36 Games in the Polish League is just absolutely outstanding, and he's exactly the sort of Striker we need to come in- in that he'll be ready to hit the ground running right off the bat.
As far as a Transfer Fee would go, I believe Legia Warsaw signed him for around 400k- and in our need for Goals I wouldn't even flinch if we had to pay 10 times that to bring him in this Summer. As with Gudmundsson, the one downside to signing Nikolic would be his presence at the Euros with Hungary and a delay to his Pre-Season Preparations- but I'd say he would be worth the wait.
Matej Vydra (Watford)
The last Watford player on the list, and one who I think has a really good chance of signing for us this summer. Given the fact he was Loaned out to Reading, and he didn't even do too well there- it might be a reasonably safe assumption to say he's surplus to requirements at Watford. There could always be a chance whomever Watford bring in with Quique Sanchez Flores departing as of today fancies Vydra- in which case this would become moot. However, I think- or rather hope that wouldn't be the case.
I was desperate for us to sign him last summer, and if you go back to my Deadline Day blog from last summer you'll know I was really hoping we'd get him. As it is, had we signed him last summer Dembele probably wouldn't have got as much exposure to the First-Team as he did so I suppose it worked out pretty well in that respect. But of course now, Dembele's most likely off this summer- so hopefully it comes full circle and Vydra comes in for next season. While it hasn't worked out amazingly for him at Reading, I don't have a doubt in my mind that Slavisa could get the best out of him.
Nahki Wells (Huddersfield)
I was talking about Wells with a Huddersfield Fan not so long ago, and I got the impression that he'd be a Striker along the lines of Rodallega. That comparison's in the sense that he's not what you'd describe as "clinical", but his Goal Tally of 17 for last season speaks for itself. The other point was that should a team come in for him with 4-5 Million, it would be really hard to turn down from a Huddersfield perspective. End of the day, we need Goals to either compliment McCormack- or replace his Goals as well as Dembele's and Nahki Wells scores goals.
Jonathan Soriano (RB Salzburg)
If we're talking absolute "Dream Windows", Jonathan Soriano is the absolute top of my list Dream Player for us to sign this Summer. Outside of the "Top" Leagues, Soriano's without a doubt in my mind the best Goalscorer in Europe. His Goalscoring Record in the Austrian Bundesliga is just ridiculous, if we want to make signings based off of "Stats" here's some pretty convincing stats in favour of signing Soriano;
You could of course make the argument he's in the clear best team in the Austrian Bundesliga, so he'll score goals for fun- were it not for the fact his record in the 13/14 and 14/15 seasons in the Europa League was just as prolific (12 Goals in 11 in 13/14 and 8 in 12 for 14/15).
He wouldn't be cheap, and he's probably the most ambitious name on this list apart from Letschert. However, given the fact he's 30 and has made a name for himself in the Austrian Bundesliga I doubt his price would be completely out of range for us. Especially if we did end up selling McCormack for 12 Mill.
This obviously isn't a definitive list of players, and the majority of our signings this summer almost definitely won't feature in this Post- however this is my Wishlist. There will no doubt be some completely left-field signings along the lines of Mattila on the basis of Stats, but this Summer's just massive for Fulham. It's our 3rd "rebuild" in as many years, and this one is the most important one for us in-terms of the need to get it "right". Pretty much all of the names I've talked about on this list would go some way towards us getting it "right" in this window.
Thanks for reading as always, I know these last two Posts have been long ones- but hopefully they've been worth the read. These Posts are very close to going on Summer Holidays now, with just my End of Season Awards to come- so hopefully you'll be back here for that one. Thanks for reading as always, hopefully you're able to sit-back and enjoy the best time in the Football season in the Playoffs. Hopefully we'll be in the mix for them next season, with a few of the players I've mentioned playing a part.
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