Sascha Riether could be heading back to Germany.

Schalke manager Horst Heldt has confirmed the club’s interest in Fulham right-back sensation Sascha Riether, but warned “if the demand is too high, it will not materialize.”

The Bundesliga club wants the former Koln defender as cover for current right-back Atsuto Uchida.

Just because he’s on their wish-list doesn’t mean this is going to happen, and it seems Schalke have a very strict evaluation of the 30-year-old, but it’s a possibility.

He has just signed a new 2-year deal with Fulham, turning his season-long loan deal permanent with a €1.4 million transfer fee to Koln.

That makes this even more unlikely, but word is the two teams are already in discussions.  How serious those discussions are remains to be seen.

I believe this move is relatively a longshot, because of how cautious Schalke are per Heldt’s quote, and I would assume Fulham would wish to make a decent profit on the defender before the rid themselves of last year’s Player’s player of the year.

Therefore, I would imagine the two clubs would have very different valuations of Riether, and I can’t imagine the two come to an agreement.

However, if they do, it will be incredibly hard to replace Riether, and Fulham will have a tough time finding someone who can fill his shoes.  Let’s hope this doesn’t come off, because I can’t imagine the club will profit that greatly from his sale.

Fernando Amorebieta joined Fulham on a free transfer this summer.  Before making the move to London, he’d spent his entire career with Athletic Bilbao.

When asked about leaving La Liga to come to the Premier League, the 28-year-old said it was tough and a bit emotional to leave his first and only team.

“I appreciated Athletic’s offer, which was very good, but in the end I thought I would be fooling myself. I was very excited about the Premier League and was eager to go there, even though my dream was to triumph with Athletic.”

He even said the money he was offered in London wasn’t the deciding factor. “Money did not make the difference. I’d still have accepted less to sample a new league.”

The fact he speaks of less money in the fictional sense suggests he’s getting more with Fulham than what Athletic offered him.

The Venezuelan has a few regrets about how he parted ways with his old club, but he’s moved on to greener pastures, and more playing time.

“It wasn’t easy to make this decision. It’s true that I would have liked to say goodbye on the pitch after helping the team, but the coach decided that others were in a better condition to play rather than myself and that must be respected. On one hand I’m grateful that we got to two finals [under Marcelo Bielsa] and that is something hard to forget. But the end of last season was very difficult to take because I was deprived of game time.”

It will be extremely exciting to watch the Venezuelan in action, most likely alongside Brede Hangeland.  With so much experience and yet still young enough to be in his prime, it’s a perfect combination to add to the Fulham squad.

John Pantsil and Derek Boateng play together on the Ghana national squad. (Image credit: Reuters)

White-for-life John Pantsil and fellow Ghana international has given Fulham the thumbs-up for signing Derek Boateng.

Pantsil told Ghanasoccernet.com, “It is a great move and Fulham is a good team and especially when an African player moves there, they really take good care of the player. There he will get much playing time which will help him and the national team, with the exposure and experience he will succeed.”

While I’m sure Pantsil is a tad biased, it’s good to hear from someone who plays with him that he believes the player will help

It’s also really good to hear that the club welcomes not just African players but foreign players in general with open arms and former players felt comfortable in the environment.

Boateng signed for Fulham on a free transfer May 22 of this year, and will help boost a weakened Fulham midfield that was exposed in the final third of the Premier League season.

Boateng has been capped 32 times for Ghana since 1999, while Pantsil has seen the national squad 62 times since his first cap in 2001.

The two most recently helped Ghana to the semifinals of the African Cup of Nations before losing to Burkina Faso on penalties.

According to a fascinating and well-written report, Fulham are the 34th most valuable brand in soccer.

The report, done by UK-based brand valuation company BrandFinance, values the Fulham brand at $75 million (£49 million) which is increased from $65 million (£42.5 million) at this time last year.

BrandFinance also gave Fulham an A+ brand rating, which falls on a scale from AAA+ to D. They describe “brand rating” as similar to credit rating.

The report also discusses the growing importance of sponsorship and kit deals, a financial comparison between the Premier League and Bundesliga, and the Glazer family who owns Manchester United.

BrandFinance gave Bayern Munich the top ranking, valuating their brand at $860 million (£562 million), which allowed them to jump Manchester United who led last year.  The report valued United at $837 million (£547 million), which dropped 2% from last season due to the retirement of Sir Alex Ferguson and their failures in the Champions League.

Rounding out the top 10 in order are Real Madrid ($621/£406 million), Barcelona ($572/£374 million), Chelsea ($418/£273 million), Arsenal ($410/£268 million), Liverpool ($361/£236 million), Manchester City ($332/£217 million), AC Milan ($263/£172 million), and Borussia Dortmund ($260/£170 million).

I highly suggest taking 15 minutes of your time and glossing over this report, it’s extremely factual and gives a very comprehensive overview of what makes a brand in the sport of soccer.

Maarten Stekelenburg is expected to be unveiled by Fulham in the next few days (image © Getty Images)

Earlier today, Roma sporting director Franco Baldini confirmed, “I went to London to sell Stekelenburg to Fulham. There were many issues to be resolved. I reached an agreement subject to a number of conditions, like the player’s personal demands and the medical.”

While the deal isn’t DONE, it’s pretty darn close.  Roma still need to tie up a replacement, which if you remember is the same issue they had in January that ultimately killed the deal at the transfer window closure (while Stek was in flight to London).  They’re looking at young Santos goalkeeper Rafael Cabral, but nothing’s finalized on that front either.

Either way, it looks like this is about a 95% chance to complete, at a price range that speculation has anywhere between £3-£5 million, a bargain either way.

And it couldn’t have come at a better time for Fulham.

There have been mixed reactions by fans on Twitter and on story comments, but it’s a wonderful move by Martin Jol with the present and future in mind.

Stekelenburg is 30 years of age, which by goalkeeper standards is right around the peak.  He struggled at Roma, but more due to the manager’s personal preference (a la Casillas and Mourinho) than the keeper himself performing poorly.  This means he’s still at the top of his game while also being cheap.

If you remember, Fulham captured Mark Schwarzer himself at the ripe age of 35 and he gave the club five fantastic seasons that showed no signs of his age until the final one.

Speaking of Schwarzer, despite looking slowed by age in the first half of the season, he appeared reinvigorated in the second half and proved to the world he still has some left in the tank.  However, would you rather see the Australian, who’s given nothing but his all to the club in the last five years, finish his Fulham career on a high note? Or would you rather Jol ride him out until he falls apart on the pitch? I think the former is much more preferable.  Why make him prove to everyone he’s done before making a move for another goalkeeper?

Then there’s the curious case of David Stockdale.  Stocko is 27, young in goalkeeper terms but at the age where he should indeed be seeking first team action. He impressed many at Hull in his loan spell and may choose the newly promoted side over the bench at Fulham, and rightly so.

Many fans have pointed to giving Stockdale the first team role as a cheaper and effective option.  While this is true, Stockdale is still young and makes mistakes, as we saw in his limited time this season.  It would be unfortunate to lose a promising young English player, but people must realize at this club you can’t have your cake and eat it too.

I certainly can’t blame Jol for splashing a little cash towards a keeper who has been the number one option at the world’s number 9-ranked team in the Netherlands?

Stekelenburg is a top option at Fulham for a bargain price at a time that allows our current beloved keeper to leave Craven Cottage on a high rather than peter out at an even older age.  What more could we as fans ask for? It’s a perfect chance.

Kia Joorabchian, Mark Hughes’ agent, has spoken out in the media. Again. And nobody cares.

Behind every strong man there’s an even stronger woman.

Behind every Mark Hughes there’s a Kia Joorabchian.

There is nothing worse in sports – I repeat, nothing worse – than an agent who won’t shut their mouth and needs their quota of the limelight to make it through the day.

Kia Joorabchian is that type of person.

The agents don’t play on the field, they don’t make difficult personnel decisions, they don’t call plays or pick a formation, and they don’t build teams. Their sole job in the world of sports is to make sure players and managers they represent receive the maximum compensation they possibly can. No sports fan wants to hear about any of that. Everyone understands it’s a necessary evil, but no one wants to know what goes on. When an agent pipes up, it’s like nails on a chalkboard.

Joorabchian yesterday felt the need to defend himself when pundits began pointing fingers at him saying he’s behind some of the poor signings Mark Hughes made during his stint at Queens Park Rangers. The man’s brought all this on himself, really, considering the media wouldn’t even think to shake a finger at Hughes’ agent if Joorabchian wasn’t such an outspoken, arrogant, self-absorbed attention-seeker.

Look no further than what he said yesterday while defending his actions at QPR. “I am always interested to read or hear that I was responsible for so many players signed by QPR last season.”

Of course you are.

The man is attempting to defend his actions, and instead all he does is tell people how much he loves to see himself spoken about in the media! I realize he’s trying to make a point here, but aren’t there about 2,000 other ways to say the same thing without discussing how interested he is in seeing him own name in the papers?

American sports fans can relate Joorabchian to another arrogant person in the States with the same job, one Drew Rosenhaus. However, it seems over the years Rosenhaus has actually listened to much of the criticism of his attention-seeking strategies of the past, and has reformed his public persona to one of strictly business. Joorabchian could take a lesson from Rosenhaus, who is rarely seen in the media these days, and instead is rolling in piles of cash while his public image repairs itself over time.

Please, Kia, spare us. Shut up, and leave Mark Hughes to burn on his own. He doesn’t need any help, and he certainly doesn’t need someone to join him in the fire.

Remember this? Karagounis became a fan favorite right off the bat.

Often times, when players are figuring out whether their time with a club will come to an end or not, their quotes to the media following the season’s end are good look into their minds to see where they stand with the club.

We’ve recently found out how two possibly-ex-Fulham players stand.

Giorgos Karagounis took the time and effort to gush about the support he’s received from the Fulham fans.  The Greek international left it all out on the pitch at Craven Cottage, and the fans recognized it right away and fell in love.  He’s noticed.

“I’ve really taken to the Fulham fans, and from the moment that I arrived they gave me a lot of respect and support,” he told the official website. “For a player to have that when he joins a new club is very special. I’m a player that gives my all to a team and to a game, I think the fans see that and appreciate it. They like their players to give their all to the cause. I gave my all to every single game.”

Then the best part: “There’s nothing better for a new player to feel accepted and I had that with both the fans and my teammates from the very start. It’s something that made me feel very proud. I gave 100 per cent every time I put on a Fulham shirt, and that is my way of saying thank you to the fans.”

How bout that from the 36-year-old? If he comes back he wouldn’t be much more than a squad player, but I’d love to see it happen. The guy’s got guts and heart, two heavily undervalued attributes in the game today.

On the other side of the coin, Emmanuel Frimpong had surgery on his knee recently, and acknowledged Fulham in about the bare minimum way he possibly could have.  I realize the medium has a character limit, but Frimpong took to Twitter to discuss his knee surgery and return to Arsenal at the end of the loan.  He spent a few tweets on the subject, and the final one hinted he’s happy the extended trip across London is over:

from the game also wanna thank everyone at fulham for their support but also is a great feeling to be back at arsenal. have a good day—
Emmanuel Frimpong (@IAMFRIMPONG26) May 23, 2013

Not nearly as warm and fuzzy as Giorgos, now is it?

We’ll have to see where both these midfielders end up next season.  I have a feeling though that one will be back and one will not.  I’ll let you decide which.

But also because of how it began…with nothing.  And also with how it continued halfway through…with more nothing. Last summer’s transfer window was painful because it was so empty.  Martin Jol and the board waited ages to make any kind of moves and address obvious needs.

This summer, the signs are obvious – things are going to be different. Very different.

With the official transfer window not even begun yet, Fulham have signed one player for a fee (Sascha Riether’s loan was made permanent for £1-2 million) and now two shrewd free transfers have been confirmed.

The club confirmed that Derek Boateng will join Fulham immediately, having been released after a contract dispute with his club Dnipro, and Fernando Amorebieta will join the club on a bosman at the end of the Spanish season from Athletic Bilbao.

Derek Boateng is a household name with many Fulham fans by now, with the completion of the transfer on the fourth attempt by the club to get him.  The 30-year-old signed a 2-year deal with Fulham and is a strong presence in the midfield, reminiscent of Dickson Etuhu in years past.

Amorebieta has been rumored to be joining Fulham for the better part of 2 months now, and all you need to know about the experienced central defender is how quickly Martin Jol acted as soon as word got out he wouldn’t be resigning with Bilbao. Jol isn’t someone with a ton of contacts in the Spanish league, but he made it happen with the likes of Arsenal also rumored to be in the mix.

Amorebieta still just recently turned 28, young for a man of his experience.  He’s got 195 Primera Division games under his belt since 2005, plus another 56 in domestic and abroad cup competitions.

There are still holes, with needs at striker, more midfield, and maybe even a goalkeeper, it’s nice to see the gears moving so early.  There are reports out of Italy that Fulham have signed Maarten Stekelenburg to replace Mark Schwarzer between the sticks, so clearly they’re not done yet.

Given the bright starts to both the beginning of the season and the new calendar year, it was a disappointing way to close out the season.  During it, just about every single one of Fulham’s squad weaknesses were exposed.

This summer, Martin Jol is tasked with starting over…again.

The sale of Clint Dempsey and, more importantly, Moussa Dembele shredded Jol’s plans for building a long-term improvement at Craven Cottage to continue the groundwork begun by Roy Hodgson. Now, he must find a new foundation to structure his squad around.

That solution was thought to be Bryan Ruiz, but it seems his inconsistencies have caused Jol (and much of the fanbase) to reconsider.

The Dutchman in charge can’t be blamed for the exits of two cornerstones of his plans for success at Fulham.  However, it is now his responsibility to move on and build anew.

This season was a struggle, forced by the departures to be a bridge rather than a step up.  Jol had to piece together short-term stopgaps such as Giorgos Karagounis and Philippe Senderos.  Karagounis will most likely move on (although his passion will be missed by many), and Senderos has signed another 1-year deal.  These are not options for the future success of Fulham, however.

With the youth squads having another outstanding season and the budget still strained, it’s not going to be easy for Jol to make high profile purchases.  The board may be instead focused on bridging the gap to when the young guns are ready for the big stage.

But this summer, with new pieces required in the central midfield, central defense, up front and even between the sticks, the duty for Martin Jol is a big one.

Will the squad recover enough to continue the slow climb up the Premier League table into established top-10 consistency? Or will financial restraints and a lack of action cause the squad to squander the progress made by managers past? It hangs seriously in the balance, and Martin Jol may indeed hold the key to whether Fulham can continue to work towards the long-term goal or whether relegation is in the conversations of the near future.

Martin Jol’s blank stare may vanish from Craven Cottage altogether if he’s not backed by the front office, according to a troubling article in The Mirror.

A recent article in the The Mirror has sent Fulham fans into a tizzy.  The article suggests Martin Jol lacks financial backing by the Fulham front office for the coming transfer window, and as a result both he and Dimitar Berbatov could leave this summer.

Obviously there is much speculation involved in this news story, but in such circumstances, where there is smoke, there must be fire, and this is a bit too serious to simply discard as complete rubbish.

Contrary to the obvious concern about this story however, the issue isn’t the lack of Dimitar Berbatov on next season’s squad, or a change in manager.  Martin Jol had a difficult year putting together a squad. He gets a pass this season due to the forced departures of Clint Dempsey and Moussa Dembele in the final days of last sumer, his tactics and approach left a bit for fans to question. No, this isn’t about whether the club will do well with someone other than Martin Jol in charge.

The biggest issue looming with this potential situation suggested by the Mirror would be the aftermath of a second straight managerial departure due to financial reasons.  The self-destruction and fall of Mark Hughes began when he shocked Fulham by leaving, without another job secured, partly for the same reasons being suggested this time around.  The Mark Hughes departure was also partly due to his egotistical issues, and we all saw how that has gone for him.  But there’s no question that the lack of financial backing by Fulham had at least something to do with his decision to leave the club high and dry.

When he left, Hughes’ agent Kia Joorbachian was quoted with saying, “One of the things he looked for at the end of the season was to see if there was an ambition for Fulham to go to the next level.” He continued by saying Mark Hughes’ ambitions were above the club, blah blah blah, confirming his egotistical mindset.  However, that quote suggests there was a part the Fulham board played as well in his departure, lacking either the means or the will to give Hughes what he wanted to transform Fulham into a contender at the “next level.”

If Martin Jol were to follow the same route, it would leave the club in a dire situation.  Not that it wouldn’t have Martin Jol on the touchline, but the message sent out to the footballing community about the financial stance of the front office would doom the club in a manner that would be irrecoverable in the near future.  What half-decent manager would want to take over the club and begin anew? This isn’t about hiring a well-traveled manager with a full resume and a big name.  Not even a young, aspiring manager would want to take a club that now all of a sudden would become a bookie’s delight to be relegated in the next year or two.  The patchwork squad that Martin Jol pieced together with free transfers and loan players, with hopes of replacing them with younger, more long-term solutions down the road, would now become the long-term solutions.

There would only be one ending to what would become a messy situation.  Relegation.

Whether it would take just one year or maybe two, the lack of support by the front office would be met with the ruthless axe of the Premier League’s bottom three, the one that had no mercy and took no prisoners at Loftus Road this season.  The quickest road from the Premier League to the lower divisions runs through the city of Bad Management.

Therefore, it only follows that something many Fulham fans believed last summer again becomes the mantra for the next few months – this summer may be the most important in Fulham’s Premier League history.

And the first step of the summer is to make sure the beloved club residing in Craven Cottage isn’t slapped with the dark mark of a parsimonious front office, or it will surely doom them to Championship obscurity in the coming years.  While Fulham fans bask in the misfortune and mismanagement of their bitter rivals, one cannot help but be somewhat worried that, if things don’t pan out this summer, it will be themselves faced with the same disastrous result.

This is not an attack on the wonderful services Alistair Mackintosh and Mohammed Al Fayed have provided Craven Cottage over the years.  If not for the generous gifts of our chairman and the long and hard hours the Chief Executive has graced the club with, they’d be nowhere near the levels it’s reached in the last decade.  Mackintosh has always been known for finding diamonds in the rough, for discovering cheaper but effective options that don’t necessarily write headlines.  The club’s stance against bidding wars has kept the wage and transfer bill down to a more than manageable level, even posting a surplus a year and a half ago, something which has become an endangered species in the footballing world.

This is not a condemnation of the path from which Fulham have traveled.  This is a plea for the club to not veer into the thicket marred by excessive stinginess.  Obviously the club doesn’t have access to the most extensive of resources.  But where has some of the recent influx of funds gone? The sales of Moussa Dembele and Clint Dempsey netted the club approximately £21 million.  The club also sold Bobby Zamora for £4 million.  Fulham have finished in the top 10 of the Premier League in multiple seasons recently, garnering additional Premier League prize funds.  The Europa League finals run plus an additional year in the European competition surely garnered a fantastic amount of profit.  The Premier League has secured multiple new TV deals which surely has distributed new wealth to each participant.  For a club that posted a profit as recently as 2 seasons ago, one cannot believe operating costs plus a new stand has eaten up all this additional influx of wealth.  Obviously in this business it’s not as simple as money in, money out.  However, this is not the financial blueprint of a club that relies on free transfers and loan deals year in and year out to piece together 11 players on the pitch.  One year marred by unforeseen circumstances is forgivable, but multiple seasons with this makeup will lead to more failure than success.

The road to reestablished Premier League consistency begins with a stop at a gas station where the Fulham board must refuel, not buy a cheaper car.  They must reasonably back Martin Jol to not only convince him to stay, but allow him to carry out his new plan for Fulham’s future that was so ruthlessly torn to pieces by a last-minute White Hart Lane raid at this same juncture a year ago.  That, or face the possibilities that lie ahead of his departure.