The club has reported that Giorgos Karagounis has signed a new one year contract. I know he's old, and I know his antics are not for everyone (I likened to him to a cartoon Greek, because he's almost a caricature of what you expect a Greek Footballer to act like), but I'm happy he's back. I thought he played well early in the season and only wore down late because he was asked to do too much. If he's limited to late game substitutions, coming in as a more offensive option in place of a CDM, late in games; I think he'll be more effective. Hopefully Fulham also has a deeper run in both the League and FA Cup this year, which will also give him some playing time. I'd be perfectly happy if he and Sidwell were the 4th and 5th options in central midfield this year.
The club also posted a story about Marcello Trotta. It's mainly a feel good puff piece, but it does make me think: is it possible he's ready to be the 3rd or 4th option at striker? It would be nice if that were true, as striker is one of the most overvalued and expensive positions to fill via the transfer market. If you can fill that position internally, that leaves your transfer budget available to buy players in positions that valued fairly or even undervalued.
I can finally exhale, because a rumor I wasn't keen on is likely made up. Dirk Kuyt denies any interest in Fulham.
It's also being reported that Fulham is playing hardball with the price of Kerim Frei. This makes me happy. The previous reports were talking about a €2.5M offer which I felt was way undervalued. Fulham have the leverage here and if Galatasary want him, they should have to overpay. Not accepting anything less than €4M is a good start.
The Daily Mail has a good article about the relationship between Martin Jol and Dimitar Berbatov. I always like seeing articles like this because it really shoots holes in the argument that players hate playing for Jol. I'm sure certain players hate playing for Jol, just as I'm sure every boss has employees that don't like him/her. But Jol seems to have very good relationships with a lot of the players he's managed before, and many of them are keen to come back and play for him again.
The news also broke that Christian Benteke has handed in a transfer request. This isn't directly related to Fulham, however it could cause ripple effects that affect Fulham later. There are rumors of Fulham being interested in Darren Bent and Aston Villa willing to accept only £5M for him. That opportunity may dry up if Benteke leaves. Also, Tottenham seem the favorite to sign him if he leaves. Spurs seem to be interested in making good financial decisions, and Benteke would no doubt be expensive. Perhaps they are more willing to sell a player like Huddlestone or Sigurdsson to add to their transfer kitty? My other favorite part of that rumor is that good old Bobby Zamora is the betting favorite to replace Benteke at Villa.
Finally, in the totally unsubstantiated rumor department, the twitter account of Get French Football has confirmed Fulham have inquired about a player.
CONTACT: We have confirmation that Fulham have made a formal enquiry regarding the availability of Evian's Mohammed Rabiu. #FFC #ETG
— Get French Football (@GFN_France) July 8, 2013
I don't really know anything about the player, but it seems like he might be a younger version of Enoh that the club is interested in if they can't get Enoh's price down.