Posts Tagged ‘Tom Huddlestone’

Fulham Deadline Day Recap: Loans, Hotel Internet, and Fiorentina’s Revenge

Posted: January 31, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Transfer
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Well, it would seem that, barring anything crazy last minute (which is certainly possible given the craziness already having taken place), Fulham are done with their deals for the January transfer window.  It’s been a crazy day, so I thought I’d put everything down here in one place for your viewing pleasure.

Completed deals IN:

-Urby Emanuelson: Season-long loan, probably no option to buy
The 26-year-old Dutch international was an expected deal, as he’d fallen out of the Starting XI at AC Milan and was looking for first-team action until the possible sale of Robinho in the summer, which would give him a bit more of a shot at the first team.  Emanuelson is capable at left back, but even better at left wing or attacking midfield.  He’s a very versatile player.  Read more about him here.

-Stanislav Manolev: season-long loan with option to buy on 2-year deal
Manolev joins Fulham on a very low-risk deal from PSV Eindhoven.  The right-back provides cover for Sascha Riether, something Martin Jol specifically mentioned was on his wish list yesterday after the West Ham match.  Manolev didn’t get very good reviews from what I saw on Twitter, but that’s not a massive issue, because he’s only a squad player at this point and only really has to be better than Stephen Kelly to be successful.

-Eyong Enoh: season-long loan with option to buy on 2-year deal
It hasn’t been confirmed by the club yet, but reports are abound that it’s a done deal.  The defensive midfielder comes from Ajax, where he’s made 88 league appearances (149 overall).  He’s from Cameroon, and came to Ajax from their feeder club in Cape Town.  He’s hardly played for Ajax this season, just making 3 league appearances (2 as a sub), and 4 in the Champions League (3 as a sub).
UPDATE: Confirmed by Ajax, nothing from Fulham yet
ANOTHER UPDATE: Fulham now confirms.

Completed deals OUT:

None.

Failed deals IN:

Maarten Stekelenburg – In one of the craziest stories from Deadline Day, Stekelenburg had long been linked with Fulham ever since he’d been dropped to second-string at Roma.  Reports were abound saying he’d completed his move to Fulham, and had gotten on a flight to London earlier today.  However, apparently Roma was banking on replacing Stek with Emiliano Viviano from Fiorentina. Let’s pause for a moment – what’s the connection with Fiorentina and Fulham? That’s correct, Dimitar Berbatov was set to go to Fiorentina, before he decided not to board a plane and instead went to Fulham! Remember how angry they were? Fast forward to today. Stek’s about to head to London to complete the deal, when low and behold, Fiorentina back out of the Viviano deal less than a half hour before the Italian window closed, leaving Roma high and dry on a backup and forcing them to cancel their deal with Fulham for Stekelenburg.  Unfortunately for the big Dutchman, he’d already taken off, despite his current side’s attempts to catch him before he left, so he flew to London for nothing. Revenge by Fiorentina? Possibly.  But also what it seems a bit of poor planning and also poor form by Roma to cancel the deal once it’d pretty much been agreed to. Fulham can’t catch a break with Italian football (more on that later).

Tom Huddlestone – Both Martin Jol and Andre Villas-Boas confirmed yesterday that Fulham were in the mix for Huddlestone, but Jol said he’d been trying for 5 weeks now and nothing had happened, so he wasn’t optimistic.  It seemed the deal had a chance to be completed today, but Huddlestone ultimately wasn’t up for the move to SW6, and then Fulham reportedly went all-in for a foreign striker, and the Huddlestone deal had to be sacrificed to provide the money.  That striker was rumored to be…

Bafetimbi Gomis – A name who briefly popped up on Deadline Day in the summer as well, reports flew around today as well that Gomis was on Fulham’s wish list, and they threw everything they had at him, sacrificing the chance at Tom Huddlestone. I find it interesting how everything is connected. The rumors just kind of died out, didn’t hear much about it after the initial reports.

Nikola Maksimovic – There have been reports that the young Yugoslavian central defender had been signing with Fulham, but a last-minute attempt at a work permit failed, scuttling the deal.  Unfortunate, as Maksimovic has featured well at Red Star Belgrade and, at only 21, could have had a good future at Fulham as a long-term replacement for an aging bunch had he played well.  We need CB depth badly.

Failed transfers OUT:

Chris Baird – West Bromwich Albion had been talking to Baird most of the day, but nothing materialized for whatever reason.  Good, because we need all the midfielders we can get.  Don’t want the Bairdinho headed elsewhere! I also think West Brom may have had their attention elsewhere……(*cough*Odemwingie*cough*).

Pajtim Kasami – Another ridiculous story out of the Deadline Day mayhem, apparently Kasami was on his way to make a permanent transfer to Pescara in Italy, but the paperwork failed to arrive in time because of faulty hotel internet and the window closed in Italy.  For whatever reason Italian soccer teams can’t get better than hotel internet.  Unfortunate for Kasami, who’s unhappy with his lack of playing time under Martin Jol.  This was no more obvious (and a little depressing) when he tweeted just a bit ago:

It’s depressing because Kasami seems like a hard-working kid who just wants to get a chance.  He’s shown a good deal of promise in his little time at Fulham, but I can understand him being frustrated at Jol not giving him a chance.  We’ll see if he gets loaned somewhere.

Recap:

Fulham got a very highly-rated versatile lefthand player in Emanuelson, a backup right back, and a relatively unproven defensive midfielder.  The positive? They’re all well under 30.  The negative? There’s still holes at goalkeeper and striker, and the midfield’s still a bit thin. Don’t forget though that we did also get Frimpong a few days ago.  The squad is still thin, but 4 signings in January helps a whole lot.  Also don’t forget Chris David, who signed in the beginning and will probably be an important piece in the future.

Also, stay tuned to my Twitter account for more information as the window closes.  Most journalists saying Enoh is the last of Fulham’s signings, but you never know! Especially with Stekelenburg stuck in London for the night…

BREAKING NEWS: Martin Jol Does Something; Signs Emmanuel Frimpong

Posted: January 25, 2013 by Kyle Bonn in Transfer
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Isn’t Craven Cottage supposed to be a family establishment?

In one move, Martin Jol has gotten the ball rolling on everything he’s said the last month. Just a day ago:

The situation is that it is not a good market in January – you have all these players who are doing well, so you have to take them when they are doing badly.

We’ll have to see in this last week, maybe there will be one or two surprises. We’ll have to wait and see. All these clubs jump on the same players but we want to be a bit more like pioneers and adventurers, but it’s not easy.

Both those apply today as, in typical Fulham fashion, the first transfer of the window (besides young Chris David) comes with 6 days left before it shuts.

Fulham have confirmed they’ve signed 21-year-old midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong on season-long loan.  The Ghana-born player came through the famed Arsenal academy, and has also been loaned out to Wolves last year and Charlton earlier this season.  This year he’s played very little, making 3 appearances for Arsenal (2 starts) and 6 for Charlton (only 1 start).  However, he’s coming off his second ACL tear of his career, only returning this past October.

This desperately fills a need for Fulham in a central midfield which has been racked by injuries and departures, and before the transfer included just Steve Sidwell, Chris Baird, and Giorgos Karagounis.  It’s been widely reported that Jol is after Tom Huddlestone to cover this particular need, but with injuries to Sandro and a few others back at White Hart Lane that’s looking much less likely, so this is a backup – and much less expensive – option.  The less-expensive part is key, considering the new Riverside stand has suddenly forced the club into being a bit cash-strapped (we think).

Will this be a rare get for Fulham in the next few days as the window closes, or will this start the floodgates as Jol looks to cover other needs up and down the pitch.  I still believe, in a perfect world, this club still needs another striker, a young center back, and maybe even a goalkeeper.

The “All Summer 2012 Fulham Transfer Window” Team

Posted: July 5, 2012 by Kyle Bonn in Transfer
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In honor of the ridiculous flurry of players Fulham have been linked with, I’ve decided to do a special post.  I was looking at Twitter today and I thought to myself, “boy, you could make a whole team with these guys!” So, guess what……..I DID.  I’m sure this will get amended as the window continues, but as of now these are the biggest names involved with the club out of the gates.  Some are probably legitimate and others are ridiculous, but they all count the same here! So without further ado…

Here’s the Starting XI for the “ALL SUMMER 2012 FULHAM TRANSFER WINDOW” Team:

Goalkeeper: Paul Robinson

Paul Robinson is seeking an exit from Blackburn, who will play in the Championship next season

You know it’s a crazy transfer window when we get linked with a goalkeeper these days.  Fulham are certainly not short on talent at this position already, with Mark Schwarzer in the running for captain and David Stockdale a fan favorite and up-and-coming talent sure to be the Aussie’s successor if he sticks around.  But, for whatever reason, Fulham are being linked with relegated Paul Robinson, who is leaving Blackburn since Ewood Park won’t be the site of any Premier League matches this season.  He was originally linked with a move to Besiktas since their keeper is retiring.  But according to a bunch of journalists, he’s also being tracked by Fulham, for reasons I can’t begin to explain.  Oh well, we’ll see.

Full-back: Danny Simpson and Alexander Buttner

Fulham are certainly in the market for a right-back, but have been linked with men who play on both sides of the goalkeeper in the past month or so.  There have been links with Newcastle star Danny Simpson, and our very own guest poster Nick said here that he could be a top choice to fill the right-back hole that Martin Jol is currently looking to plug.  He would be a top choice, and I think many Fulham fans would agree.  He’s 25 still, and in the prime of his career, something that ultimately could doom Fulham in their pursuit of Simpson.  He very well could be had by some of the top clubs in the league, and especially where Newcastle finished in the league last season, he would want to move up, not down the table.

Alexander Buttner is certainly not the boring type.

There have also been connections between Fulham and mowhawked left-back Alexander Buttner from Vitesse Arnham.  Even younger at a ripe 23, the Dutchman is an intriguing but also a bit of a head-scratching selection by Martin Jol if true.  Fulham already have John Arne Riise and Matthew Briggs to hold down the left back position, so to add another to the mix would seem at first glance excessive.  However, with Buttner being only 23, and Riise getting on in age, he could be a good bench player and injury depth.  Briggs is even younger, but Buttner could prove useful not just next year, but down the road as well.

Center back: Tomas Sivok and Michal Kadlec

Tomas Sivok (right) fights for the ball. The Czech international could come to the Cottage on a free.

Sivok has been linked to Craven Cottage many times in the last month or so in a move that I find to be very similar to the Buttner train of thought.  The two starting center backs are two of the best, and maybe one of the Premier League’s best pairings, but between those two Hughes and Hangeland, they’re getting old (see a common theme? now you know why Jol wants to get younger).  Senderos is 27, but again, Jol is looking for depth here, and I don’t blame him.  Sivok also would come on a free, since Besiktas hasn’t chosen to resign him.

Bayern Leverkusen’s Michal Kadlec, who usually plays on the left but is also very capable in the middle, is said by Dutch press to be close to agreeing to a deal with Fulham and may have a medical in the coming days if the rumor is true.  The 27 year old Czech made headlines a little while ago.  You may remember, especially now with all the news about goal-line technology being adapted, Kadlec headed a ball off the line against Poland in Euro 2012 that beat Petr Cech, and the ball appeared to hit the inside of the post but it wasn’t called a goal.

Midfield: Tom Huddlestone and Tongo Hamed Doumbia

Tom Huddlestone is a longshot for Martin Jol, but would be an excellent buy should he pull it off.

With Danny Murphy gone, the midfield is a bit of an issue.  Steve Sidwell and Mahamodou Diarra are both very capable of being regulars, but once again (sound like a broken record?) Sidwell is 29 and Diarra is 31.  You can’t expect them to hold down the fort an entire season.  Plus, Sidwell’s coming off a hernia injury that kept him out most of the second half of last season, so knocks are always a worry. In addition, Moussa Dembele is going to leave sooner or later.  All this adds up to a definite need.

Tom Huddlestone would be a wonderful addition, and Martin Jol has once again been linked to his former club to fill a need.  He’s an excellent passer of the football, plus and he’s been deemed somewhat of excess at White Hart Lane.  Also, he’s 25, so he’s got plenty of years ahead of him, as well as being in his prime.  He has one year left on his contract with Spurs, a big reason why new boss Andre Villas-Boas may consider cashing in on him now.  If Jol were able to pull this off, I would expect Huddlestone to step into the starting lineup pretty quickly.  However, a lot depends on what AVB has in store for his new club, and as always when dealing with a club with a new manager, this may take time as AVB first needs to put together a plan for how he intends to move forward, who is necessary, and who is extra weight.  I wouldn’t expect anything in the immediate future on this front.

Tongo Hamed Doumbia is a defensive midfielder who plays for Rennes in the French Ligue 1.  I haven’t seen his name pop up too much, but he’s been mentioned in the occasional tweet or random blog article.  Nothing concrete has been written on this link but with the aforementioned need for true midfielders, landing the 22 year old French and Ivorian would be a great way for Jol to fill a need and boost the younger ranks.  He’s quite inexperienced, but in his three years with Rennes he’s vastly improved in every season, so a move up would be solid, and at £2-£2.5 million he’s a cheaper option as well.  If anyone knows more about Doumbia, good or bad, feel free to post it.  I’ve seen rumors on Twitter from French bloggers that he’s headed for a Premier League club, but the identity of the club is unknown.

Winger: Eljero Elia and Nacer Chadli

With Bryan Ruiz, who many think should play centrally behind the striker(s), and the 33 year old Damien Duff (who’s been answering questions about retirement recently, if that doesn’t speak to his age I don’t know what does) the only viable wingers on the club, save maybe Clint Dempsey who’s not a guarantee to be with Fulham next season (and almost a guarantee NOT to be with the club past January) it’s clear why Martin Jol would want to add to the winger ranks.

Eljero Elia’s name has been saturating my Twitter feed in the past 48 hours, and it seems a lot of Fulham fans, bloggers, etc are tracking his movement.  The Juventus 25 year old has handed in a transfer request after a rocky season in Italy, where he played just 4 matches with the Serie A champions.  Even though he’s only 25, he’s played in the Eredivisie, Bundesliga, and Serie A, making him quite experienced for his age.  Word around Twitter is that it’s between Werder Bremen and Fulham, with Juventus looking to completely unload Elia but Bremen only willing to take him on loan.  It’s also been said that he’s agreed to terms with Bremen and only the clubs’ discussions are holding things up.  So we’ll see what happens.  He’s certainly been tweeting a lot of cryptic stuff in the past few days.

A winger who’s a lot of people think is on the cusp of big things is Nacer Chadli.  His name has been next to Fulham’s for a while now, dating back to last January.  He was even quoted with saying he would love to come to Fulham, with special thanks to fellow Belgian Moussa Dembele:

“I want a new challenge, and England would be the most attractive. Fulham? That’s a nice club. Look how Dembele has developed in the past two years. That has been a good step for him because now Manchester United and Chelsea ask about him and I hope to take the same step as Moussa.”

Does that mean Chadli might use Fulham as a stepping stone? Probably. But I don’t care, as long as we can get a few good seasons out of him, it would work out in our favor either way. He netted six times last year and assisted six more, so he would be a great addition to the wings at Craven Cottage.  Keep an eye out on this one.

Striker: Steven Fletcher and Burak Yilmaz

If Wolves stand their ground, Martin Jol would have to break the bank to get Steven Fletcher’s services, and big ears, to Craven Cottage.

Wolverhampton are looking to cash in on Steven Fletcher after their relegation to the championship, and word is Fulham are interested, along with Sunderland and Stoke.  However, Wolves decided to slap a nice £10 million price tag, which in my opinion would be more than enough to price Martin Jol and Alistair Mackintosh right out of competition.  Of course, I’m not privy to the financial dealings of the club, but that sounds like a lot more than I’d want to pay for Fletcher, despite being just 25.  However, he did score 12 goals last season on a club that provided him little support, so he would be a promising addition.

Burak Yilmaz appears to be an option that’s dwindiling somewhat, as the rumors on him have all but gone quiet since it was whispered he was more than likely headed to Lazio.  However, I haven’t seen or heard anything to say he’s signed with a particular club yet, so it’s probably still possible.  It would be a great addition to an already thin strike unit.  You can read up more on Yilmaz’s situation here in a post I wrote up a few days ago outlining the possibilities.

Bench: Salomon Kalou, Juanfran Moreno, Aaron Ramsey, Nicklas Helenius, Sascha Riether, Federico Fazio

Here are some players who I either think the rumor is so ridiculous it’s not going to happen (such as in Kalou’s case) or they’re players who not much has been reported, or the rumor is pretty much dead.

According to this story, made an injury about Salomon Kalou, but I can’t see anything happening, mainly because his wage demands would most likely be well be out of Jol and Mackintosh’s range.  He’s 26 and deemed excess at Stamford Bridge, and I’d be thrilled to be wrong here, but yea, not happening.

Rumors are abound about Sascha Riether coming to Fulham on loan from Cologne.  The loan deal would apparently have an option to buy at the end, possibly keeping the 29 year old defensive midfielder at Craven Cottage long term.

21 year old Nicklas Helenius would be a steal for Fulham at this point in his career, and has the potential to develop with Fulham.

One rumor that somewhat excites me is that of Danish striker Nicklas Helenius.  Just 21 years old, the big center forward scored 14 goals and assisted 8 more last season with Aalborg BK in the Danish Superligaen.  He stands at 6’4″ (195 cm) and would be a young force up front.  Plus he’d come relatively cheap.  His agent confirmed there are English clubs interested. I like this option!

A few stories here and there have said Real Madrid youth castout Juanfran Moreno is looking for a new home.  He’s made 100 sides for the B team despite being just 23 but just 1 for the top side and has decided to move elsewhere to secure first team football.

I only placed Aaaron Ramsey in the bench spot because that rumor, despite being a fun one, is all but dead.  Apparently Wenger said no to even a loan deal.

Another option for Jol at center back is Federico Fazio.  Someone on Twitter alerted me to this and apparently it has legs, at least a little.  The 25 year old Argentinian played his way from the second team into the first team at Sevilla.  During his youth career, Fazio was part of an Argentinian U-20 side that won both the 2007 World Cup for the age group and the gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Beijing in 2008.