The Craven Corner: Welcome Floyd Ayite & Goodbye to Stek & Pringle?

Since the transfer window has opened, Fulham haven’t had a quiet week yet and this week has been no different!

The playing squad has been cut even more but we do have a new signing at the club to celebrate, Floyd Ayite.

The Togolese international has reportedly joined the club for 2m euros this summer and will be the second summer signing after Michael Madl joined on a permanent basis. While Ayite doesn’t boast the most prolific goal scoring record, many of the French media reporters do rate the attacker very highly. Labelled as a versatile forward, who can play anywhere across the front-line, Ayite sounds like the perfect weapon to Fulham’s arsenal this summer.

In my opinion, I expect he will mainly play as a winger, being asked to cut inside and create opportunities, but with blistering pace, a potential combo of Ryan Fredericks & Floyd Ayite on the counter sounds promising.

Considering we beat Nottingham Forest to his signature, it’s clear that Fulham do have a plan this summer. While, the club may have only signed two players this summer so far, remember free agents only became official yesterday (July 1st) and Fulham tend to keep their business under wraps until everything is done.

The club will have a few more irons in the fire in terms of new arrivals, and expect more news to surface in the next two weeks before the Crystal Palace friendly. Especially with Jokanovic holding talks with Thomas Delaney of Copenhagen, I expect we’ll hear something about that deal sooner rather than later.

But just like previous weeks, Slavisa Jokanovic continues to cut the squad down to his requirements with Maarten Stekelenburg and Ben Pringle departing the club this week. While, Pringle’s transfer may not be official yet, the player has held talks with Preston North End and a deal to take him to Preston is expected to be completed shortly. While, Maarten Stekelenburg has secured a permanent deal to reunite with Ronald Koeman at Everton.

Both transfers will be worth keeping an eye on, especially if Stek gets a run in the team at Everton – it will be interesting to see how he performs with a stronger defence in front of him, while it’ll be great to see what Pringle can achieve if he can secure a permanent place in the Preston starting eleven.

In other news, Sheffield Wednesday have signed former Sunderland forward, Steven Fletcher and while many of us would think that would end their interest in Ross McCormack, the reports this morning suggest they are still interested in a £15m deal for Fulham’s talismanic striker. Whether or not these reports hold any truth, is something we’ll simply have to wait for but if McCormack does leave the club, the funds generated would have to be spent solely on his replacement to recruit someone of equal quality and class.

Finally, Jose Mourinho Jr has signed a two-year deal with Fulham as he continues to receive a tonne of media attention with his rise to fame. Highly rated by the staff at Fulham, Mourinho Jr has previously played in goal for Real Madrid and Chelsea at youth level, and with the 16 year old signing a two year deal, we may see him feature in reserve games sooner rather than later.

The future is bright, the future is white – Thank you for reading, and you can tweet your thoughts to me @ABronsSmith.