Fulham: 20/21 Season Preview

Well this has come around quickly hasn't it? Last season feels so recent (because it was), and we're already gearing up to go again- but this time we're in the Premier League. The Season Preview is where I look at all things Fulham that have taken place in the months, or in this case month between the end of last season and the season we're on the eve of as well as looking at what I'm expecting to happen over the coming 9 Months. 

A lot of the relevant discussion points are of course Transfer Window related, so in the words of Fabrizio Romano- "here we go". 

The Transfer Window
Ins
Antonee Robinson (Wigan)
I'm not really sure I have to say too much in regard to Antonee Robinson, for the simple fact that he was one of the players I had pinpointed in my Summer Window Preview just over a month ago. 

As I said in the Preview, Left-Back depth would've been a "must" for us this summer regardless of what division we were in- but the added appeal of the Premier League and the finance that comes with being a Premier League team makes a world of difference in regard to who we can attract for said position. It's a well known fact that Robinson was a bargain transfer fee wise, and for me it's just very smart and very good business from Tony Khan to get the deal done when it's pretty well publicised that we weren't the only Premier League team in for Robinson. 

Mario Lemina (Southampton, Loan)
This isn't an absolute slam dunk of signing. We could very well get to December/January time and hate Lemina's guts with all of the criticisms that were being levelled at Zambo and Seri last time around in the Premier League being aimed at Lemina. I'll preface the discussion over Lemina with that. 

With all of that said, I'm a fan of this deal. At his best, Lemina would offer us something we haven't really had since we sold Mousa Dembele to Spurs in-terms of his ball retention and dribbling ability. The way we've structured the deal makes it relatively low risk for us as well, with the number of games and the "staying up" clauses both having to be met for the deal to automatically trigger a permanent move. Overall this is the sort of "taking a chance" transfer I can get behind, because we aren't relying on Lemina to come in and play 38 games- and if we do get "good Lemina" he'll make a difference for us without a doubt. 

Harrison Reed (Southampton)
After Tony Khan's last outing in a Premier League summer window, the biggest compliment I can give this deal is that it was the most common sense transfer we could have made this summer. There isn't anything else to say, we obviously know all about Harrison Reed from his loan spell and what he brings to the table. 

Alphonse Areola (PSG, Loan)
I'm quite torn on this one. On the one hand, yes Areola is a very good Keeper. However, I can't help but feel like this signing is a Tony Khan special straight out of the Andre Schurrle drawer. World Cup winner, fringe player at a Champions League club, massive wage packet, and his most comfortable position steps on the toes of one of the players key to our promotion. But at least with Sessegnon and Schurrle we could have both on the pitch at the same time. 

I'm such a big fan of Rodak, and can't help but feel like the supposed wages we're paying Areola could've been better spent elsewhere. But if we get to next May and Areola's been the difference between staying up and going down I'm happy to eat my words. And it should also be said that in Areola's interview after signing he said Parker called him and said he wanted him, so you have to take that at face value. 

I think when talking about potential signings over the next month, Areola's signing is also a reminder (if we needed one) of how big a factor moving to London combined with playing in the Premier League is for us and the level of player we can attract to the club as a result. 

Kenny Tete (Lyon)
This one is interesting to me, for the simple fact that he was the profile of Right-Back I was looking at when I was preparing this Season Preview. A lot of the Right-Backs I saw on peoples "wish lists" were quite attack-minded, including the ones I looked at in my Summer Window Preview. The thing with that is it ignores what Parker did in the Play-Off Final where he had Odoi tucking in almost as a third Centre-Back and let Joe Bryan attack down the left as our attacking outlet. So as a result, signing a more defensive Right-Back could suit us and suit what Parker wants out of a Right-Back in the coming season. 

Introducing Kenny Tete. He won't offer us much going forward, but he's a very good 1v1 defender- and he's almost definitely better suited to a team who'll be on the back foot in the majority games like ourselves because of that. Especially for the rumoured transfer fee, this is a very, very smart deal for Tony Khan to do and crucially compared to some of the signings in our last Premier League Summer Window tactically I can see exactly where he fits in.

Outs
I must say I expected a few more names to be in this section this close to the start of the season. However, there is still a month left in the window- and so much happens late on, so perhaps it isn't a surprise that this is where we currently are. 

Alfie Mawson (Bristol City, Loan)
I think this is a deal where it's fair to say that it benefits all parties. As I talked about in my Summer Window Preview, Mawson was even behind Le Marchand in the pecking order at the back end of the season. So with the belief that we will be signing at least one Centre-Back this window, it's fair to say Mawson wouldn't have had much of a look in during the coming season had he stayed.

The one thing I will say is if Mawson turns around and plays 46 games for Bristol City next season then it's definitive proof that his move to us was just cursed. The thing to say about that scenario though is that if he returns from his Loan with a full season injury free under his belt then he could still turn into a useful player for us. Because I do genuinely believe behind the dodgy knee(s) that there is a good defender still in there.

Steven Sessegnon (Bristol City, Loan)
I'm genuinely curious about this one, because from what I can tell Bristol City will be playing a three-at-the-back next season. The reason I'm curious about it, is because going into last season I genuinely wanted us to play a three with Mawson as the middle Centre-Back and the debate in my mind was whether Steven Sessegnon would be better off as the Wing-Back or the Right Centre-Back rotating with Odoi in the system. So I'm just interested to see how that plays out under someone perhaps more qualified to pick a team and tactics than I am. 

On a more basic level, it'll be good for Sessegnon to just get out playing. He did show promise in the early stages of the season- but the mistakes he was making, that are totally understandable given it was his first season of senior football just became too costly in the end- and the only way he can iron out those mistakes is by gaining more experience. 

Marcus Bettinelli (Boro, Loan)
I'm really interested to see how this move to Middlesbrough plays out. My personal view on Bettinelli is the knee problem he was dealing with and needed surgery on has finished him as a good level Keeper. His Premier League performances were embarrassing, and you could probably make a case for saying the soft goals he conceded at the start of last season purely in-terms of points dropped (I'm specifically thinking about West Brom at Home) cost us Automatics. 

With that all said, if Bettinelli can get his 17/18 form and mobility back, he's quite a smart signing for Boro- and especially at Championship level there aren't many Managers I'd back more in-terms of getting the best out of someone than Neil Warnock so I'll be watching with interest. 

******************************************************************************************************************************

Potential Transfers
Ins
Ola Aina (Torino)
I'm a fan of this deal. While Aina's not "Fredericks fast", he'd still be the first Right-Back we've had since Fredericks with genuine pace and the ability to overlap down the right which I highlighted as a key attribute I wanted in a Right-Back signing this summer. 

There's a lot of "upside" with the Aina signing. As with the Lemina deal, the Loan + Option covers us if he under performs next season- and if he does perform then it's happy days and he'll be worth the transfer fee. Add that on to the fact that Aina can play both sides comfortably, and he could probably play further up the pitch as well if Parker wanted to set up very defensively against the "big" teams (like I saw speculation of when Robinson signed in regard to Joe Bryan) given a lot of his experience in Italy has been as a proper Wing-Back. 

To give an idea of how close Ola Aina is, this Preview is getting published at 6pm- and it genuinely wouldn't surprise me if we announce him at the same time. But we're now moving on to my shopping list for the rest of the window where I look at areas of the squad that I think we still need to strengthen in the rest of the window, and it will come as no surprise to any Fulham fan with a brain that there's only one place to start. 

Jose Fonte (Lille)
With the exception of perhaps Areola, it's fair to say I've been quite positive about our Transfer Window so far. However, I would go as far as to say none of the signings we've made so far actually matter until we've signed a Centre-Back who can come in and partner Hector. It really is a "need" in regard to signing a Centre-Back as well. If we have Tim Ream as a starting Centre-Back in the Premier League we will go down. 

Before getting on to why I want to sign a 36 Year Old Jose Fonte, I do think something has to be said. Wanting a left-sided Centre-Back isn't the same as wanting a left-footed Centre-Back. Right-Footed isn't an excluding factor in any potential Centre-Back signing to partner Hector, as long as they're comfortable playing as the left-sided Centre-Back and it wouldn't be a square peg in a round hole. 

With where we are in regard to the start of the season, we need an immediate fix at Centre-Back in my opinion. For me that means we need someone who has Premier League experience in abundance, has experience of relegation battles in the Premier League and someone who'd be a genuine leader at the back. It's a very narrow field when you use that search criteria, and Jose Fonte fits the bill. 

Would Fonte be absolutely ideal? No. He will undoubtedly get done for pace in some games, he won't have any resale value and we'd more than likely be his last club. But on the other hand he wouldn't command an extortionate transfer fee thanks to his age, he probably has more Premier League experience than the rest of our squad combined, he's been a Captain at clubs he's been at and he's played as a left Centre-Back quite a lot in his career. Probably most notably next to Pepe for Portugal as they won Euro 2016. In-terms of wanting someone to come in and hit the ground running, especially with our two league games after Arsenal in mind I'm not sure we can do much better. Hopefully Rui can put in a good word for us.    

Victor Nelsson (Copenhagen)
This is a signing that can go two ways. We're starting the season against Arsenal with Tim Ream and Michael Hector as our Centre-Back pairing. I had mentally accepted that about 10 Days ago, and I'm braced for what's coming. With that in mind, any potential Centre-Back recruitment can go two ways. My preference as I've already said is signing an "immediate fix" Centre-Back like Jose Fonte who'll come in and instantly make an impact on the first team. 

However, now we are starting the season with Ream, we could just accept that Ream and Hector is going to be our pairing early doors and sign more of a "prospect" who can grow into the role over time because Victor Nelsson would undoubtedly be an upgrade on Tim Ream- but he'd need to acclimate to the league first. Nelsson's only 21, he's Denmark U21s captain and he's actually been playing as a left Centre-Back partnering Ragnar Sigurdsson of all people at Copenhagen for a decent amount of the previous season. 

Or we could just sign both. Especially with Mawson going, I think we'll be in the market for two Centre-Backs this window- so signing one "immediate fix" and one "prospect" neither of whom would be ridiculously priced would be my ideal window and Nelsson would be the long-term successor to Jose Fonte in the left Centre-Back role.

Emi Buendia (Norwich)
I feel like there's (rightly) been a lot of discussion in regard to our defence, and concern over how our defence will cope with the step up. However, I would argue that our attack is just as much of a concern- just because giving the ball to Mitrovic and hoping like it seemed our tactics were for a decent amount of last season won't be enough to keep us up. 

The only reason I didn't highlight Buendia in my Summer Window Preview is for the simple fact that I thought he'd be a bit beyond us and go "higher". But here we are, with the Championship season starting tomorrow, and Buendia's still a Norwich player. 

Most people will be fully aware of Buendia, specifically because of the number of chances he created for a very poor Norwich team in the Premier League last season- and it's for that reason that I'm keen on him because he'd add some genuine creativity that none of our current players really offer in my opinion. The rumoured transfer fee for Buendia isn't extortionate either, especially compared to some of the fees we're seeing for players like Ollie Watkins. 

Victor Moses (Chelsea)
You could be forgiven for forgetting that Moses is in fact naturally a Right-Winger given he's spent a decent amount of the last 4 or 5 years playing as a Right Wing-Back under Antonio Conte, and we supposedly even tried to sign Moses for that role under Ranieri in our January window in the Premier League.

It's that experience that makes Moses quite an appealing option to me though, because we'll be on the back foot in quite a few games next season and need our Wingers to chip in defensively. Moses still has something to offer going forward as well though, and for me he'd be a definite upgrade on the Wingers we currently have.

Add that on to the fact that he obviously knows the league and with Chelsea spending more this summer on players than the GDP of most countries surely making him surplus to requirements, combined with the fact that he's going into the last year of his contract Moses is probably available for a very affordable transfer fee. So overall Moses would be quite an appealing option in my opinion. 

Florinel Coman (FCSB)
My personal preference when talking about potential Forwards is we sign one "proper" Winger like Emi Buendia or Victor Moses, and then we also sign someone who can play up-front or on the Wing to cover us for any Aleksandar Mitrovic related absences whether it be because of injury, yellow card accumulation or Mitrovic's new best friend VAR. Bonus points if they're a prospect who we can sign, increase in value and then sell on for a profit. 

Enter Florinel Coman. Romanian football at least on paper is in for a bit of resurgence over the next 4 or 5 years, largely thanks to three quite familiar names to the world of Football in Puscas, Hagi and Coman. I really liked the look of Coman at the U21 Euros last summer where he scored twice against England perhaps most notably- and after having a strong season with FCSB (don't call them Steaua Bucharest) he's seemingly ready for a move to a Top 5 European League. Maybe not as a starter right off the bat, but he definitely has the ability and potential to cement himself if given time to develop. 

Andre Ayew (Swansea)
In perhaps a theme of this section of the Preview, Coman would be the "prospect" and Andre Ayew on the other hand would be the "immediate fix". It's seemingly a policy of ours this summer to really minimise outlay in-terms of transfer fees and directing more of our finances to the wage bill. Ayew would definitely be a signing in that mould, given Swansea surely can't afford to keep paying his wages for another season. 

I personally see a lot of value in Ayew, despite his age. Primarily, he's a really good player, he had more goal contributions in the season just gone than any player we currently have bar Mitrovic by quite a distance. Add on to the fact that he's played as a Striker a reasonable number of times, including for part of last season with Swansea, he's got Premier League experience that we definitely seem to value when looking at players to sign, and he's also shown in the season just gone that he's happy to get his head down and fight for promotion in the Championship if we do get relegated in the coming season. 

Two Centre-Backs, a Winger and potentially a Winger who can play up-front as a bonus signing. That's what I want out of the rest of the window, and when you consider there's pretty much a month left of the window (even longer for domestic signings)- that isn't really that much to do for Tony Khan and the recruitment team.  If we prioritise a Centre-Back, and then get to work on the rest I'm more than fine with that- because as I've already said it doesn't matter who we sign if we still have Tim Ream starting at Centre-Back. 

Outs
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa
I said in my Summer Window Preview that my personal feeling was that unless Villarreal could afford to trigger the option to buy they had, Zambo would end up staying in the coming season. Obviously with a month left in the window you can't say with 100% conviction that he's staying unless he signs a new contract that I don't think would be on the table, but all of the signs are definitely pointing to Zambo being a Fulham player for the coming season.

That's quite exciting for me and I do really rate Zambo. Although I do think we have to temper our expectations slightly, because the way he's being built up by some people on social media as this sort of Prime Yaya Toure box-to-box Midfielder who'll come in and own the league is a massive exaggeration. It's one thing for Zambo to perform well for Villarreal who came 5th in La Liga and had players playing well around him, it's another thing entirely to consistently perform well in a team that's playing badly and is aiming for 17th come May. As I said in relation to Zambo potentially moving a month ago, time will tell. 

Jean-Michael Seri
Seri still being a Fulham player at this stage of the window is annoying to me, but it isn't surprising. I didn't really "get" the Galatasaray move when it happened on Seri's end, and on our end fair enough we probably got a decent loan fee for him, but we would have surely known going in that Galatasaray wouldn't have been able to afford the option to buy on him when they along with the two other "traditional" Turkish clubs Fenerbahce and Besiktas are for want of a better way to put it, bankrupt. It would be one thing if it was a last minute Deadline Day thing, but Seri joined Galatasaray in Mid-July from memory, and there was definitely a market there for us to sell him outright based on some reports. 

As a result we still have Seri, and his wages, on the books going into the new season. And it wouldn't surprise me if we needed Seri to go before we could move for someone who Parker will actually want. I thought things were lined up for us to sign Babel and Seri to go the other way, but that ship has seemingly sailed and we're left trying to find a move for him that suits us as well as him. 

Stefan Johansen
Before yesterday, it seemed like Galatasaray had potentially moved from one out of favour box-to-box Midfielder to another with them also being linked with Johansen. However I think that talk will die down now, as Galatasaray have signed Peter Etebo on Loan who coincidentally I highlighted in my Summer Window Preview as someone I wanted to sign as a squad option.

I do still think Johansen's going this summer though, as I said in my Summer Window Preview he had fallen out of favour in the Championship, and now we're in the Premier League with Zambo and Lemina both ahead of him in his most "natural" position I don't see that changing. And especially with Norway potentially going to the Euros next summer if they get through their Play-Off, as Norway captain Johansen isn't going to want to spend next season on the Bench, or more likely now we're back to 7 subs in the stand. 

Cyrus Christie
I wonder if things are possibly lining up for Cyrus Christie at the moment. We bring in one new Right-Back, with another imminent, just as his former club Derby sell Jayden Bogle. It's probably fair to say that Christie sees himself as more than being a 3rd or 4th choice Right-Back depending on if you see Denis Odoi ahead of him or not. 

In a way I'm happy Christie's leaving this summer, if he does, after giving a better account of himself in the eyes of the fans than the car crash of a Premier League season. There's surely a market for Christie as well, he's going into the last year of his contract making him pretty affordable and he is a solid Top 6-Top 10 Championship level Right-Back. 

Fabri
If reports are to be believed Fabri's on the verge of moving, but he was definitely training with the club as of Wednesday, so it would seem like things aren't as close as had been reported. My opinion on Fabri hasn't changed over the last year or so, in the sense that I do think Fabri got a pretty raw deal with us. I suppose one thing with Football currently being Behind Closed Doors is at least with Areola there won't be fans chanting for Rodak (Bettinelli) if he lets in a soft goal on his debut. 

Saying Fabri was set up to fail is probably going too far, but he was signed on the recommendation of a Goalkeeping Coach who almost instantly left the club after his arrival, he was replacing a fan favourite, and perhaps most importantly he was without exaggeration behind one of the worst defences in Premier League history. 

Fabri's definitely better than being a 3rd choice Keeper for us, and I do genuinely hope he finds a club where he'll play every week and he can get his career back on track. 

Kevin McDonald
After signing Reed and Lemina, a report came out saying that we were listening to offers for McDonald and Johansen. I'm not sure if there was something substantial to that, or it was just the media putting two and two together. I'll repeat what I said in my Summer Window Preview, if McDonald wants to play Football next season his only outing before 2021 could well be at Portman Road in just under a week- so a loan would be his best chance of playing Football. 

However, he's without a doubt the biggest leader in the dressing room, and when talking about keeping the dressing room atmosphere up McDonald would be key to that in my opinion. So if he was happy to stay knowing that would be his role at the club while he does his Coaching Badges I'd be perfectly fine with that. 

It's also worth saying that McDonald potentially going is another reason why I highlighted Jose Fonte as a potential signing, because we need genuine leaders in the dressing room when things get tough during the season and Fonte would fill those boots. Quite literally if you look at what Fonte's preferred Kit Number has been over his career.  

******************************************************************************************************************************

Scott Parker's new contract
It's definitely worth talking about Scott Parker's new contract, because I think it's an indicator that unless we're on course to break Derby's points record we're sticking with Parker regardless next season. It could be me reading too much into things, but Parker's original deal covering our two years of Parachute Payments and his new one covering a season in the Premier League and then potentially two Parachute Payment years isn't a coincidence for me.

Especially now Parker's proven definitively he can get us promoted, I think we'll want some long-term continuity this time around in contrast to the Khans last two Premier League outings where we've had three Managers both times. Even if it means taking the hit and going down like Burnley have done previously with Sean Dyche, and Norwich's plan seemingly is with Daniel Farke. That logic would also tie in with our seeming reluctance to spend big so far this summer, at least in-terms of transfer fees. 

******************************************************************************************************************************

New Kit Reaction
I'm a massive fan of our Home Kit. Conditioned on the fact that it is an Adidas Template, of the options we had available to us, when I was looking at other Adidas Kits for the new season the one I wanted was Wolves' kit with the black sleeves to coincide with it being 10 Years since we got to the Europa League Final in a similar kit- and here we are. The Yellow Away Kit isn't going to be top of my shopping list it's fair to say, but as I always say in regard to betting sponsors in this section, as long as the team wearing it are winning Football matches I couldn't care less. 

I've already mentioned betting sponsors, so I'll talk about us getting a new one here. Pretty much half the league has a betting sponsor, and bar the Top 6 who have genuine "appeal" to big brands, betting sponsors are the most lucrative option to Premier League clubs until the government or the FA ban them. As I've said already, if the team wearing the shirt is winning Football matches I don't care what's on it. Let Tony Khan put an AEW logo on the Sleeve for all I care. 

****************************************************************************************************************************** 

The Season Ahead
We know this season is going to be a slog. We're in a Mini-League with in my opinion Villa, Brighton, Burnley, Leeds, Newcastle, West Brom, West Ham and potentially Sheffield Utd where three of us go down at the end of it. My personal opinion at the moment is we won't be better than three of those teams over the course of a season, especially with such a glaring hole in the team as of now at Centre-Back that needs to be filled before we can even start talking about staying up with a straight face. 

I do think tactically we're better suited to being in the Premier League this time around, but frankly I just don't think we'll have enough quality over 38 games. As I've already said though, I think Parker's secure in his job almost completely regardless of what happens this coming season- and if he does keep us up then fair play to him. 

I said in my Season Preview last year that with the quality we had in the squad, Parker might not get that much credit for actually getting us up- the shoe is definitely on the other foot going into this season, because Parker is going to have to play an absolute blinder and use every ounce of his managerial ability if he is going to keep us up. 

******************************************************************************************************************************

Predictions
I posted my Premier League prediction on Twitter, and seeing as we feature it's worth repeating.
I've predicted;
18th. West Ham
19th. Fulham
20th. West Brom

It should be said that making a Table prediction with a month left of the Transfer Window makes the prediction pretty redundant, but this prediction is based on how things look at the moment. 

There's so much unknown going into this season, both on and off the pitch in the current climate that I'm approaching it with quite a lot of interest. As I've already said, I do believe we're better placed tactically and with the team we have to give a better account of ourselves this time around in the Premier League- and really that's my main/only hope for the coming season. Thanks for reading as always, I still really enjoy doing these- specifically the Transfers and "Scouting" aspect of it- so hopefully you still enjoy reading them. Thanks again for reading, hopefully you're staying safe, hopefully we can get back to the Cottage sooner rather than later and hopefully we can make this season a good one. 

Fulham: 20/21 Summer Window Preview

When you go over scenarios in your head of how a season can play out, I don't think anyone would have predicted "Play-Off Final win in August" as an outcome. It's fair to say it's been an interesting season, in so many ways. But the end result of this year long season is the one we were all hoping for of promotion back to the Premier League. 

Looking back over the season, I suppose the thing you have to say is the ends justified the means. Because we all know it's been a slog at times, and we've had some very bad games along the way. But the aim at the start of the season was promotion and we've got the job done. It makes the 3-0 defeats to Hull and Barnsley a bit more palatable simply put. I do also have to say fair play to Scott Parker, because for those who follow me on Twitter you'll know I've been very vocal about Parker at times this season. But the brief at the start of the season was "Promotion" and he's got the job done in his first full season as Manager. He's definitely made mistakes over the season, but I'd like to think he's learned from those mistakes over the season and tactically he's probably had his best two games as Manager in the Play-Off 1st Leg and Final- so his season's peaked at the right time.  

The interesting thing for us now is what we do now we've "got to the dance". When we were promoted against Villa that felt like everything at the time. Whereas because we've only been out of the Premier League for one season this time around the promotion only feels like Part One and staying up is the true aim this time around. 

A big part of how we do when we line up in the Premier League is of course the transfers we make, and the general transfer policy we have this window. I would like to think Tony Khan's learned his lesson from our last "Premier League summer" with the signings he'll make, but I suppose time will tell. "Ends justifying the means" is also relevant to our Transfer Policy, because it was a definite policy last summer to sign "proven" Championship players- and we have been promoted so it'd be interesting to see if we have a similar policy this summer with exclusively signing "proven" Premier League players. 

While Premier League experience should definitely be a factor, I'm not sure the "going for proven players" policy was actually a roaring success. Our two "marquee" signings in Knockaert and Cavaleiro were benched for Kebano and Kamara in the Final and Harry Arter wasn't in the squad. But you also have to balance that out with Harrison Reed, Onomah and Hector being three of our best players over recent times and Bobby Reid definitely contributing even if he has been frustrating in front of goal. My personal view is that no Premier League experience shouldn't be a breaking point if the right player was available, but especially with such a tight turnaround experience, at least in English Football, is preferable. 

I've also made a point to aim for "younger" players with one notable exception, because while this team has got us up- I want to aim for some sort of continuity going forward and having a team where the majority are either late 20s or early 30s isn't ideal. The average age of the signings I'm suggesting today is 24.5, and that's weighted slightly up by one 33 Year Old who's a bit of an obvious one. That's the sort of market we need to be shopping in, because for me we need players with genuine resell value for if we get relegated again, and we should also be looking at players we can buy, improve and sell on at a profit. That's the reality of the level of club we are. 

It's also worth saying as always that these aren't the exact players I'm expecting Tony Khan to sign, but they're definitely the profile of players I'd be looking to target. And as always, I'm not expecting to sign all of the names on this list- in most cases it's just one from each position. 

Ins

Goalkeeper

I said exactly the same last year, but we don't need to sign a Goalkeeper this summer. Especially with such a tight turnaround continuity within the defence where possible is an absolute must and nobody can say Marek Rodak hasn't earned his chance to start for us in the Premier League next season. The #2 Keeper isn't even particularly relevant because Parker was playing Rodak in the FA Cup as well, but maybe Tony Khan can set up some sort of Royal Rumble with Bettinelli, Jordan Archer, Fabri and the youth Keepers for who gets the honour of sitting on the bench next season and who gets moved on. 

Defenders

We basically have to build the defence around Michael Hector this summer. I do think Joe Bryan is starting next season at Left-Back, but we need to move on from Tim Ream at Left Centre-Back, we probably had to even this season just gone and I would think it's a priority given we literally signed Terence Kongolo to presumably replace Ream as Left Centre-Back in January. And the other priority for me is a Right-Back who'll come in and really own that position, because we haven't had a fixed one this season between Christie, Odoi and Steven Sessegnon- and I'm not convinced any of the three would be good enough to actually start for us in the Premier League next season. Any other defensive signings would be a bonus, but Left Centre-Back and Right-Back have to be the priority. 

Ethan Pinnock (Brentford)

Would this be rubbing salt in the wound? I'm not really sure. I feel like there's always a lot of talk about Pontus Jansson because he's a "beat your chest" "passion merchant" type Centre-Back, but next door to him in my opinion is just a much better Centre-Back. For me Pinnock is absolutely top drawer, and while all the Brentford auction talk in the coming days and weeks will be about Benrahma, Watkins etc. I think Pinnock would be a bit of an "under the radar" top drawer signing if we were to make it. 

Pinnock for me is a very "Fulham" signing as well, he definitely fits the profile of Centre-Back we'd usually target and him being left footed means he provides the natural balance in the pairing that Tim Ream has provided for us next to Odoi, Kalas, Hector etc. over the last few years- because it's definitely time for Tim Ream to be moved on from being a consistent starter in this Fulham team. 

Chris Mepham (Bournemouth)

From talking about a current Brentford player to a former one who we're passing on the way up. Mepham is someone who I've rated for a few years now, and obviously with Bournemouth going down the auctions for their players are (in theory) starting. Bournemouth have been a car crash defensively for pretty much their whole time in the Premier League, but I do genuinely think the potential is there with Mepham and as long as Bournemouth weren't demanding an extortionate price for him I definitely wouldn't say no were we to sign him. 

Matt Clarke (Brighton)

Clarke is probably the more natural alternative to Mepham, simply by virtue of the fact he's left-footed. This isn't based on our transfer policy a few years ago where we seemingly just went out and signed every middling Championship teams Player of the Year, but Clarke did win Derby's Player of the Year on loan from Brighton and he's definitely on an upward trajectory career wise. This is a big statement, but everything I've seen from Clarke bar one really dodgy Own Goal suggests he can actually make it in the Premier League. He's got the technical and physical attributes in spades, and while Pinnock would be my first choice, it would by no means be "settling" if we did sign Clarke instead.

The obvious problem we'd have in trying to sign Clarke, and I'd assume it's similar for Leeds in their efforts to try and sign Ben White. Brighton aren't going to let them go cheap, especially to a team that they'll be competing with to stay up next season. Which is totally fair enough for them, he is their player after all. But if the price was reasonable, I'd definitely be keen on trying to sign him. 

Gernot Trauner (LASK)

This suggestion is partially based on my belief that we suit a 3/5 at the back more than a 4. Especially in the Premier League, Joe Bryan in particular can do some damage going forward- but he's not good enough defensively and leaves too much space behind him to be a regular starter in a 4. It's also based on the fact that Parker has favoured switching to a back 5 to protect leads, so the logic would follow that at least in some games next season when we're playing teams like City, Liverpool etc. and we most likely setup for a 0-0 we start in a back 5. 

It's with that in mind that I suggest Gernot Trauner who's coming off the back of an absolutely exceptional season with LASK as a middle Centre-Back in a three. Whether it's as a starter with Hector on the right and let's just say hypothetically Pinnock on the left, or off the bench coming on and splitting the two Centre-Backs either side of him I think Trauner would be a very good addition for us. You'd also have to think Trauner would be relatively cheap coming from the Austrian Bundesliga and being 28 years old so he could be signed in addition to one of the names mentioned above without breaking the bank. 

Joakim Maehle (Genk)

I was quite tempted to have Ryan Fredericks in this section. Because simply put he's the Right-Back we need in my opinion. Someone who'll provide genuine pace and overlapping runs down the right-hand side. That in my opinion is also what we need to get the best out of Anthony Knockaert, because while I'm by no means saying he's blameless he's been very easy to defend against in my opinion because it's been easy to double up on him knowing Christie or Odoi (or Sessegnon) aren't really providing the option of the overlap down the right. And whatever else you can say about Knockaert, he does have the defensive work-rate to cover the Right-Back if they're caught out of position when they do overlap. So if we do look at trying to get the best out of Knockaert, that's one way we can look to do so next season. 

But my first suggestion is Joakim Maehle, who's probably very ambitious- but at the same time it's the sort of ambition we should be looking at this summer in that Maehle would be a young, hungry talent looking to prove himself in the Premier League and if he does succeed secure a move to a bigger club down the line. As opposed to the "ambitious" signings of over the hill players like Schurrle who were just there to secure the wage packet. Maehle simply put is everything I've just described above, quick, has good stamina to run up and down the line and he's just a very decent Right-Back. He wouldn't be cheap, and I doubt we'd be the only Premier League team interested in him- but Tony Khan has shown ambition with his signings in the past, it's now perhaps the time to channel that ambition into players like Joakim Maehle. 

Aurelio Buta (Royal Antwerp)

As with Pinnock and the Centre-Backs, Maehle is my main target for Right-Back- but it's definitely worth looking at alternatives as well. There's not much to say about Buta that isn't also relevant to Maehle, in my opinion Maehle is just a better player and that's why I'd favour him. It does have to be said that Buta would probably be a lot cheaper than Maehle, and in these COVID times we do have to be smart with how we spend our money this summer and budget accordingly compared to our last big summer window in the Premier League. 

Jorge (Monaco)

For those of you who follow me on Twitter, you'll know at various points of the season I was an advocate for Parker's sacking and for him to be replaced with Jorge Sampaoli who at the time had rehabilitated his reputation after Argentina's disaster World Cup and just left Santos after a successful spell there. A big part of his success at Santos was thanks to the loan signing of Jorge from Monaco, and if I couldn't get Sampaoli- I'd at least like to get Jorge. 

I've had half an eye on the majority of these names over the last month and I actually had two separate transfer lists depending on what division we were in after the season had concluded- and it's with that half an eye I know that Jorge's Agent has said he wants to leave Monaco- and given he's also coming into the last year of his contract to me that suggests he's available for a very reasonable fee. 

I should say I'm not suggesting Jorge comes in and immediately replaces Joe Bryan, but Left-Back was basically the one area this season where we had zero competition for places and I would've liked to see that addressed this summer regardless of what division we were in. Being in the Premier League just means we can aim a bit higher and attract better candidates to fulfil that need for competition for places. 

Antonee Robinson (Wigan)

As with Pinnock and Brentford, this is perhaps rubbing salt in the wound given we played a part in Wigan's relegation on the final day of the normal season. I feel like the majority of fans are keenly aware of Robinson now after his high profile move to Milan collapsed in January- but if reports are to be believed and thanks to Wigan's sketchy relegation Robinson has a very cheap release clause that can be activated it's an absolute no brainer for us to try for him this summer. 

There's not much more that needs to be said, he'd provide genuine competition for Bryan and he's a very good prospect- the problem we have is a cheap release clause and being a very good prospect means we wouldn't be the only team in for him. In fact if the release clause is what I've seen reported I would imagine Robinson's Agent will be very busy in the days and weeks to come now that Wigan's relegation has been officially confirmed.  

Midfielders

There are two things that need to be sorted out before we get a true picture of what our Midfield will look like next season. The first is Harrison Reed, we do supposedly have an option to buy on him- and I don't see a scenario that's played out that would mean it wouldn't be triggered considering he's played a lot of Football for us, and we've been promoted. But we just have to wait and see with that one. The other is the future of a certain Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa which I'll look at in more detail later on. 

In my ideal world we'd be lining up at the start of next season with a Midfield three of Reed, Anguissa, Onomah which in my opinion is the most balanced Midfield we could look to use- but the signing suggestions I've made are made with all possible scenarios of those two particular players in mind. 

Nathaniel Chalobah (Watford)

I've always liked Chalobah, the long-term injury he had a while ago has definitely stalled his development but he's still only 25 and I 100% believe there's a player in there who is capable of playing in the Premier League. The advantage we'd have in a potential pursuit of Chalobah is of course Watford's relegation, although that could easily be reversed to say with Doucoure and Capoue most likely off Watford would be more keen to actually keep him for next season because if he stays fit he'd be top drawer in the Championship for them next season. 

As I've already talked about, with the tight turnaround for next season Premier League experience could be a big factor going head first into next season and obviously Chalobah has a lot of it. I'd personally look to sign Chalobah regardless of where Zambo and Harrison Reed end up because he'd be a good option to have- but he'd become more of a priority if Zambo did leave. 

Isaac Hayden (Newcastle)

From my main priority if Zambo leaves, to my main priority if we can't sign Harrison Reed. Isaac Hayden's had an up and down career with Newcastle it's probably fair to say. But I think over the last 18 months or so he has shown he's Premier League quality. The big factor in a potential signing of Isaac Hayden for us is he's been very vocal about his desire to move down south/back to London for family reasons over the last couple of years- so if we put in a good enough offer to appeal to Newcastle I would think/hope he'd jump at the opportunity to stay in the Premier League and move back to London. 

The problem we'd have, as I talked about with Matt Clarke is thanks to Newcastle's failed takeover they'll be one of the teams we're competing with to stay up next season and Newcastle won't want to strengthen a rival without us paying over the odds. 

Peter Etebo (Stoke)

In the event of us signing Harrison Reed and keeping Zambo, I still think we need to add one more Centre-Mid to the ranks to be completely secure. Especially if the reports I've seen since the Play-Off Final are true and Harry Arter hasn't played enough games to trigger his buy option, on top of the fact that Stefan Johansen and Kevin McDonald could barely get a game in the Championship let alone the Premier League. Which leaves us with Cairney, Onomah, Reed and Zambo as the four current options. As such, I do think we'd need to add one more, basically to replace Arter's "squad player" role in the team who'll start 8-12 games depending on fitness and injuries and be an option off the bench. 

This was nearly another Stoke player in Badou Ndiaye, but as I've said right from the outset- I want to aim younger this summer so we can put some proper building blocks in place. I'd see this move as similar to the one we had with Kongolo where we take a chance on someone who clearly doesn't want to be at (Huddersfield) Stoke- but there is the potential of a good player in there waiting to be unlocked. I've liked the look of Etebo when I've seen him, he presumably wouldn't be an extortionate price to sign permanently- or we could even be cheeky and try and sign him on loan.

Petr Sevcik (Slavia Prague)

I've had half an eye on Slavia Prague over the last 18 months or so since we were linked with Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui in the January window of our Premier League season which spawned the famous "wall of meat" description. In fact, had we stayed up, last years version of this blog would've featured one of West Ham's relegation heroes as a result in Tomas Soucek. 

Sevcik is more box-to-box than Soucek is, but to me he'd basically be an upgrade in the Arter/Johansen role we've had this season. Sevcik is exactly the sort of player we should be targeting this summer in that he wouldn't be very expensive, he wouldn't necessarily come in and expect to start straight away/start every game, and he wouldn't be someone who is "too big for us" like a Seri- but he definitely has the ability to make an impact for us next season.

Enock Mwepu (RB Salzburg)

What would one of these Blogs be without talking about a Salzburg player? I feel like Erling Haaland's emergence over the last year has sort of sped up the general consciousness into thinking what I've thought for a while that Salzburg is an absolute factory when it comes to talent and talent development. Haaland isn't even a very good example of it considering he was only there for 6 months, but I've been keen on players like Stefan Lainer and Valon Berisha over the last few years who were definitely "Salzburg products". 

For want of a better way to describe Mwepu, he's Zambo from two years ago. He'd need time to bed in over the course of the season- but signing him to supplement the Midfield rather than coming in and expecting him to carry it should hopefully mean we can bed him in properly and get some good performances out of him over the course of the season like we had with Zambo at the back end of the Premier League season. 

Eberechi Eze (QPR)

I was debating which section to actually put Eze in for this, because to me given we're going up to the Premier League he'd fulfil the sort of role Matheus Pereira's played with West Brom this season where he'd be played out wide some games and centrally in others. 

I settled on Midfielders because that's where he's played predominantly for QPR, and a general point has to be made about the lack of goals that's come from our Midfield this season. That definitely needs to be addressed going into the Premier League, because Mitrovic won't be scoring 26 goals next season and we need just more creativity and invention in the Midfield. I remember a stat brought up in the build up of one of the Play-Off games of Cairney having 3 Assists and them all coming last August- which just isn't good enough. 

I do think Onomah could fill those boots based on how he's played over the last month, but it's unfair to come up and put all of that weight on him- so signing someone like Eze who's versatile and can play off the left so he wouldn't be stepping on Onomah's toes but can hopefully step into those "creative" shoes in the Midfield and produce the moments of magic to win a game that would otherwise finish 0-0 would be a big priority for me this summer. 

Forwards

In my "Championship list" I had two scenarios really, one where we keep Mitrovic and one where we don't. That has obviously become a non-issue as a result of promotion- so for me it's just about adding depth and adding goals so the burden isn't completely on Mitrovic to score the goals to keep us up next season. The ideal scenario for me would be adding one Winger and a genuine back-up Striker if Mitrovic did get injured again, because while the False Nine worked in the 1st Leg against Cardiff and the Final- we'll be under pressure and getting battered in a lot of games next season and need an out-ball that Bobby Reid doesn't give us and that definitely showed in the Cardiff 2nd Leg. 

Ryan Babel (Galatasaray)

I feel like Babel is the very, very obvious one. He's been begging it on Instagram enough over the last few months- and now we are in the Premier League there's no concern over the visibility of the league impeding on Babel's Euro 2021 hopes like there would have been had we stayed in the Championship. Especially with such a tight turnaround, I feel like Babel would be ideal because he has the Premier League experience in spades, but more crucially he's played under Parker and he knows probably 95% of the players in the dressing room from his time with us in the Premier League. 

I've seen some talk about Babel being a Free Agent, but I'm not sure where that's come from given to my knowledge he is still a contracted Galatasaray player. But with that said, given they loaned him out he's clearly surplus to requirements at Galatasaray and I wonder if we could work out a deal where we get Babel and some cash for Seri given I doubt they could fully afford to buy Seri outright unless it was in a million instalments given they won't have Champions League money to work with next season. 

Karlan Grant (Huddersfield)

I think Karlan Grant would be close to my ideal signing this summer. He's got room to develop given he's still only 22, but he's coming off the back of a very good goalscoring season with Huddersfield. The added bonus on top of the obvious with Grant is that he's actually been playing off the left a lot for Huddersfield in the season just gone, so it wouldn't be a case of having to start Mitrovic or Grant, and we could easily start both with Knockaert, Cavaleiro, Kamara etc. on the right. 

Given he is young and English, Grant wouldn't be cheap. But in general I don't think I've proposed any proper "break the bank" signings over the course of this blog and I'd "only" be looking to make one or two proper "big fee" signings of which Grant would be one. 

Jean-Pierre Nsame (Young Boys)

I feel like given the tight turnaround for next season, form from the season just gone should be very relevant in any potential signings. It's with that in mind that I suggest Jean-Pierre Nsame who is literally averaging a goal a game for Young Boys in the Swiss League. 32 Goals in 32 Games isn't a record to ignore, even if it is "just" the Swiss League and he has the physical characteristics to fill Mitrovic's shoes as the "hold-up" Striker to give us the out ball I was talking about earlier. 

Ivan Toney (Peterborough)

If the reports are to be believed and Brentford have ear-marked Toney as Ollie Watkins replacement if/when he gets sold this summer, I think we should just cut out the middle man and go straight in for Toney before he becomes the latest in the line of Strikers Brentford have signed and quadrupled in value after Maupay, Watkins, Andre Gray etc. 

Signings from League 1 and 2 are on the table now Opta are tracking the stats in the divisions as per Tony Khan's interview last year, and Toney was the absolute "top of my list" player from League 1 regardless of what division we were in after the Play-Off Final. Toney has everything really, and while it might be a case of him needing to "conquer" the Championship before he gets a move to the Premier League, I genuinely believe he could make the jump straight away and provide goals to supplement Mitrovic as our main Striker. 

Outs

This section, and the tone of it would be very different had we lost to Brentford. But thankfully that's not the case, and as such we don't have to get angsty over the futures of players like Mitrovic this summer. I've already made reference to it earlier, there's one big "out" in this section that needs to be sorted out- but beyond that the "Outs" for us this summer should be mainly "trimming the fat" type player sales. 

In-terms of contracts, I think we will offer Neeskens Kebano and Denis Odoi new contracts, especially in Kebano's case you can definitely say he's earned it. How much they actually play next season is another thing entirely. 

Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa

This is the "out" that needs to be sorted sooner rather than later, because as I've already talked about Zambo could be a key player for us next season and provide a real balance in the Midfield along with Reed and Onomah. 

But him staying is far from a guarantee, especially with some of the teams he's been linked with like Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid. It ultimately comes down to whether Villarreal have the financial means to trigger their option to buy on him in these COVID times and whether Zambo would want to play for us, and I'd like to think he would. He's spoken quite highly of Parker for putting his faith into him at the back end of the season and I'd be very surprised if Parker wouldn't have him back. Ultimately it's a "wait and see" scenario, but we don't have much time to actually "wait and see" given the players probably only have two weeks off before they report back to start preparing for next season. 

Jean-Michael Seri

I've already spoken about my "ideal" scenario with Seri in the Ryan Babel section, so I won't repeat it here. Seri never really got the "Parker stamp of approval" like Zambo did game-time wise at the back end of the Premier League season, so I'd be surprised if Seri was in favour if he were to stay at the Cottage next season. It's most likely just a case of trying to get the best deal possible to move Seri on permanently, because we'd now be in a better financial position with the Premier League money to eat a bit of a loss on his transfer fee.

Marcus Bettinelli

I think Bettinelli's at a bit of a cross-roads with his Fulham career, and just career in general this summer. As I've already mentioned, there's a very real chance our #2 Keeper wouldn't even be playing Cup games next season- so if Bettinelli did stay at Fulham barring injury it would just be to warm the bench. 

The conversation then moves to moving Bettinelli on, and if he wants to play Football he'll have to move back to the Championship. But if he is happy sitting on the bench/in the stand he could also take the move a lot of "home grown" Keepers have in the latter stages of their career and become a 3rd Choice Keeper at a club like Chelsea or Man City. Ultimately it's down to Bettinelli, and while I was critical of him before he was dropped for Rodak he's definitely earned the right over his full tenure at Fulham to choose what he wants to do next and for us to support that. 

Fabri

As I've already mentioned, there's a spot on the bench for someone next season. And that could very well be Fabri. He's barely played a game of Football for two seasons now, but in-terms of a pecking order if Bettinelli was moved on I'd definitely be more confident with Fabri on the bench than Jordan Archer. 

If/when Fabri is moved on I would imagine it'd be similar to the deal we struck for Rui Fonte where we just let him go for free to get his wages off the books and be thankful for it. But there is a chance he stays as our #2, it just hinges on Bettinelli's future. 

Alfie Mawson

How much are train tickets to Norwich these days? If the rumours are to be believed and Norwich are keen on Mawson, I would have bitten their hand off regardless of what division we were in come the conclusion of the Play-Off Final. It probably isn't all Mawson's fault that he's been an objective failure with us, because he's had some terrible luck with injuries. But it's with those injuries in mind that mean if we can get any sort of transfer fee for him we have to take it and run. 

Maxime Le Marchand

Le Marchand's definitely higher on the pecking order than Mawson is, by virtue of the fact that he's actually played Football since the restart. So it probably isn't impossible that he does stay with us next season. But as I've talked about in the "Ins" section, Tim Ream for me would essentially be dropping down into the Le Marchand squad role for next season and that would leave Le Marchand as the odd man out. As a result, we could probably get a nominal transfer fee for him to move back to France, and we take it and move on. 

Kevin McDonald

I'm in two minds about this one. On the one hand, if McDonald actually wants to play Football next season he doesn't have a chance with us bar the odd Cup game. So in that sense he should be looking elsewhere. However, I think a big thing that we'll target this time around, especially with such a tight turnaround is to keep the dressing room as positive as possible for as long as possible- and we all know that McDonald is arguably the biggest character, and definitely the biggest leader in the whole dressing room. 

As I've already talked about with Bettinelli, McDonald has earned the right to decide what he wants to do next, and if he's happy in essence being a Player/Coach and "Dressing Room General" for Parker next season I definitely wouldn't say no. 

Stefan Johansen

I know Johansen signed a new contract not that long ago, but he's fallen out of favour with Parker as the season has gone on, and if the reports are to be believed and we don't want to use the buy clause on Harry Arter who was definitely more in favour than Johansen, logic would dictate that Johansen would also be surplus to requirements for us this summer. 

We should be able to get a decent enough fee for Johansen from either a Championship club or say a Turkish club as an example. The one thing I wouldn't want to do is loan Johansen out, unless it was with an Obligation to Buy next year to cover the club signing him because of COVID. Either keep or sell essentially. 

I'm not sure we all quite appreciated how hard the Premier League would actually be when we got promoted two years ago, but we're definitely going into next season under no illusion of the challenge that's being put in front of us. We'll be definite underdogs going into next season, and having such a tight turnaround and a small window to sign and bed in players before next season starts will exacerbate that. 

However, despite my criticisms of Parker, we're definitely going up as a more streetwise, cynical team that should be better equipped to give a good account of ourselves in the Premier League. I think the way we adapted to blunt Brentford in the Final is the perfect example of that. So provided we don't go overboard with the signings like we did last time and keep that mentality about us when we do go on a bad run next season- we should at the very least be able to give a better account of ourselves than we did last time around. Relegation is of course a real possibility for us, but if we get relegated with a team that look like they're playing for each other and playing for the badge I'll accept that any day of the week because that's all you can really ask for as a Fulham fan. And if we do stay up, even better. 

Thanks for reading as always, I can honestly say I wasn't expecting to be doing my Summer Window Preview in August when my last Blog went out. But hopefully you still enjoy reading them, because I still enjoy "scouting" and writing them. As I've already mentioned, we know next season will be a slog at times- but such are the times we're living in at the moment we have to enjoy moments and nights like Tuesday when we can and take a breath before we go again next season in the Premier League. Thanks again for reading and predominantly I hope you're all staying safe in these uncertain times, and that you can all bask in Tuesday's win for a little bit before we go again in September.