Richard Stearman of Wolves, Lewis Dunk of Brighton, and Tom Lees of Sheffield Wednesday have all been linked to Fulham. The Jazz Richards deal may or may not be nearing completion. But today is a new day and there is another defender that Fulham have been linked to.
This time the player is James Tarkowski of Brentford and Fulham have offered a bid of £1.75M if the reports are to be believed. That's quite a bump from the £250K that is published as his value on Transfermarkt. The report states that Brentford is looking for closer to £3M.
The player is young(only 22), experienced (36 appearances last season), and well thought of at Brentford. On paper this seems to be a great bit of business if it gets accomplished. However, WhoScored does have one bit of information that gives me pause.
Fulham's defense has been plagued by players making mental mistakes. I'm not sure adding another is the best option. Especially not at £3M.
There is another reason to question this move. Brentford is one of the most analytic heavy teams in England. In the United States the Oakland A's were the first club to heavily invest in numbers (perhaps you've read Moneyball?). They quickly gained a reputation as a team you didn't want to trade with. Chances are they knew something you didn't at you could end up getting fleeced. I'm not sure Brentford has reached that level yet, but if they're as smart as they appear and willing to let a young player of seeming quality go; you have to ask yourself why.