Cottage POV

It was an interested transfer window for Fulham, their 3rd in the Premier League under Marco Silva as we begin to look like an established Premier League club again. It felt like we were primed to splash some serious cash and whilst net spend was low thanks to some off-setting sales, Fulham did break their transfer record for Emile Smith Rowe and I believe they also welcomed numbers 2 and 3 on the record signings in the mould of Joachim Andersen and Sander Berge. See below a breakdown of our summer:

Net spend – £23.5m (inclusive of add ons)

Incomings – £94m (inclusive of add ons):

Ryan Sessegnon from Tottenham Hotspur – free transfer
Emile Smith Rowe from Arsenal – £32m
Jorge Cuenca from Villarreal – £7m
Sander Berge from Burnley – £25m
Joachim Andersen from Crystal Palace – £30m
Reiss Nelson from Arsenal – Loan

Outgoings – £70.5m (inclusive of add ons):

Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich – £47.4m
Kieron Bowie to Hibernian – £600k
Ibane Bowat to Portsmouth – £500k
Jay Stansfield to Birmingham – £20m
Carlos Vinicius to Red Bull Bragatino – £2m (pending – Brazil’s transfer window closes on the 2nd)

The story of the deadline was Jay Stansfield, a sale for the club that represents the 4th largest in Fulham history whilst it’s comfortably the biggest signing in League One history it would also be the largest signing in the Championship. When the fee was mooted around the £5m-£10m mould, I had zero interest in letting Jay leave the football club but £15m rising to £20m with a 20% sell on fee is a good deal for who is essentially the clubs’ 3rd choice striker, 3rd choice player for either wing and 3rd choice behind the striker. He’s a top prospect, I’m sure will be a top player but this represents strong value now and the 20% provides strong investment in his future. Whilst he’s clearly better than League One level, it’s part of a longer term play to return to the Championship immediately and chase promotion to the Premier League in what feels like as competitive a Championship cycle as ever so back-to-back promotions isn’t out of the question, especially if the American owners continue to throw money into the club. Best of luck to Jay, but this is the best move for all parties.

It’s safe to say Fulham failed in their search for a Willian replacement all summer, banking on moves late in the window that saw Rayan Cherki reject our advances, Lille determined to not see Edon Zhegrova leave and Ernest Nuamah not wishing to leave Lyon at the final hurdle. This led to a loan move for Reiss Nelson, an bright winger who I felt showed a lack of ambition by signing a new contract at Arsenal last summer – it was clear that was his moment to leave and make a name for himself but instead, the pull of Arsenal wages and being called an Arsenal player was too much and he signed a 4 year deal to play a sum 581 minutes since with 4 starts in all competitions. Arsenal didn’t want him to leave on a free – the new deal was purely potential sale bait. I struggle to care for straight loans at this stage in our club development but I do think Nelson is a good fit, it’s just beyond me that Willian supposedly told the club he wasn’t interested in staying in January (how’s that going for you?) and it took a late panic loan on the final day.

It’s not often you see a summer with a player returning after a few years, let alone twice! Having Ryan Sessegnon back at the club is a joy, the main focus for him is getting fit, finding himself on the football pitch again and develop as a left back behind Antonee Robinson. For Joachim Andersen, his bond came as captain of lockdown Fulham – Scott Parker’s team was torrid in attack but excellent at the back led by Andersen helping a young Tosin alongside him dominating box duels and pinging beautiful passes across empty stadia up and down the country. If only our awful head coach had something going in the final third… that Fulham squad going down should be tried for war-crimes. Parker is lucky it was behind closed doors or the boos would have seen him binned much, much earlier. But alas, Fulham replace Tosin with his former partner Andersen in perhaps the most surprising of the signings this summer. Palace seemingly not keen on extending his deal and expanding his pay package, Fulham were glad to bring back the big Dane who’s distribution will be vital for Silva.

Jorge Cuenca, signed to replace Tim Ream who wished to return to the US with his family, was Villarreal’s replacement for Pau Torres who has had an excellent year at Aston Villa. A solid debut at Birmingham, it’ll be a fun contest to see him and Calvin Bassey compete for that left sided central defence slot whilst both have differing strengths and weaknesses to create tactical options for Marco Silva. There’ll be no immediate pressure on Cuenca with the aforementioned Calvin Bassey able to hold the reigns whilst our new Spaniard settles into life in London and the Premier League.

Sander Berge has massive shoes to fill in fan favourite and *elite*ball winner Joao Palhinha. Berge has the physical size of our former Portuguese but will play the role slightly differently with Berge stronger on the ball, he’s a nice passer and carries the ball excellently, expect him to prefer having plenty of touches and look to progress play with a gorgeous range of passing or beating the first press and laying into the front 4. He’s long been touted a top, top player and you see it in spurts (thought he was the best player on the pitch when Burnley beat us 2-0 last year, I described him as a “disruptive wall”) but I fancy our chances that Fulham and Marco Silva will be the perfect match for him to fulfil his immense potential with a different profile at the base of the Fulham midfield and perhaps importantly, one Fulham have wanted for years with him nearly arriving in January 2023.

And to round it up, a small word about our club record signing. Whilst the whole “FulHale End” stuff is unbearable, Emile Smith Rowe feels like a serious level up type signing. A base £27m rising to £32m for a just turned 24 year old former England international feels good value in the Premier League market, whilst punchy it’s very plausible for the club to make profit should Silva do what he’s done numerous times at the club and get an individual playing at their peak level. He’s had a decent start, settling in to regular football again but his first goal on his home debut was a lovely moment and I’m sure he’ll get stronger and stronger as the season goes on.

I’d grade the club with “B” on the base of the window. All that talent for a net spend of £23.5m is really quite impressive. It was solid if not spectacular, it lacked a little excitement that an Ernest Nuamah or Rayan Cherki may have provided and barring a run of form, Muniz and Jimenez feels a little light up top and I feel a little indifferent about our central midfield options. We’ve retooled the squad nicely for going forward but I think a little more could have been done in the middle, wide areas and up top. I feel for Martial Godo that the late business seems to have stalled his loan move and he’ll be in a little bit of no mans land until January – even more cruel given that slot has been taken by a straight loan that provides the club with no long term value.

Alas, up the Fulham. Not sure we’re better, but different and the foundation has been expanded with long contracts across the squad with only a few expirations within the next 2 years.