Why Chelsea FINALLY Turned A Corner.
Fulham are planning to make a second bid for Benfica defender Morato but face an uphill task trying to sign him.
A report from Mais Futebol has outlined the tricky task Fulham face trying to secure their first signing of the summer.
Fulham manager Marco Silva still has no new signings to work with at the club.
Pre-season hasn’t begun yet, but the squad will already look quite different to the end of the last campaign.
Loan signings Layvin Kurzawa, Manor Solomon and Cedric Soares have returned to their parent clubs.
Solomon looks set to return to the Premier League but with London rivals Tottenham.
Willian and Neeskens Kebano also won’t be returning, to begin with, after they rejected contract offers.
Fulham could also lose Tosin Adarabioyo who has been linked with a move to Spurs as well.
As a replacement, Fulham have identified Benfica defender Morato and already had a first bid rejected.
The Whites plan to go in again for the 22-year-old, but could immediately be priced out of a move.
Fulham consider second bid for Morato
The report from Mais Futebol suggests that Fulham’s first bid of £8.5m was immediately rejected.
Incredibly, Benfica have demanded £42m for the centre-back whom Marco Silva really wants to bring to Craven Cottage.
The young defender has an £85.7m release clause giving Benfica the upper hand in negotiations.
Benfica clearly rate Morato incredibly highly given the price tag they’ve placed on him.
This is slightly surprising given he only made nine league appearances last season.
Morato was signed from Sao Paulo two years ago and is an impressive ball-playing defender.
However, he’s not played enough football for Fulham to raise their next bid for Morato to anywhere near his asking price.
He’s currently stuck behind Nicolas Otamendi and Antonio Silva in the pecking order and could be seen as a long-term replacement for the former Man City defender.
Until then, he needs to decide whether he should leave for more minutes or wait on the bench for the Argentinian to move on.
