Why Chelsea FINALLY Turned A Corner.
Fulham manager Marco Silva admired Bournemouth striker Dominic Solanke this summer but Fulham never made a move for the forward.
A report from The Athletic has shared more details about a difficult transfer window at Craven Cottage.
There were two main headlines from Fulham’s business this summer.
The first was the loss of talismanic striker Aleksandar Mitrovic as he became one of the biggest stars to head to the Saudi Pro League.
The other was Joao Palhinha and his failed move to Bayern Munich in the final hours of the window.
There will be relief among Fulham fans that the Portuguese stayed at the club although it’s yet to be seen how quickly he’ll settle back into the side.
What was immediately apparent was the club’s lack of any sort of plan to replace Palhinha in case a bid was received that was too good to refuse.
The only reason Palhinha didn’t join the German champions was because neither Scott McTominay or Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg were keen on a move to the Cottage.
Despite having two weeks to do so, Fulham also failed to replace Mitrovic properly.
Raul Jimenez was signed before his departure but a marquee attacking player never arrived.
Marco Silva was a big fan of Bournemouth’s Dominic Solanke but Fulham never pushed to sign the 25-year-old.
It’s yet to be seen whether that’s a decision that the club will regret going forward, but it certainly looks like poor planning right now.
Fulham manager Silva a bid admirer of Solanke
The report from The Athletic suggests Fulham sources knew Silva was an admirer of Solanke early in the window, but it was never clear if he was attainable.
There never appeared to be a huge push to sign him despite the obvious need for another forward in the squad.
Former Bournemouth boss Gary O’Neil is a big fan of Solanke and once said: “Dom works his socks off for me and you can see he comes off and we’ve not created loads of chances for him and he’s put in a load of work.
“People that maybe don’t know, could underestimate how big Dom is for this group.
“Absolutely massive. I couldn’t ask for a better number nine to go and face the challenges that we’re faced with.”
Solanke would have been the perfect replacement for Mitrovic at Fulham and would have comfortably slotted into Marco Silva’s system.
Even a player like Pedro would have offered more than Fulham’s current striking options.
There are serious question marks over whether Tony Khan and Alistair Mackintosh are still the right men for the job when it comes to the club’s recruitment.
Based on the evidence of this summer, it’s hard to argue that they are.
