Fulham rumored to sell two players

Both Sky Sports and Kicker are reporting that the Bundesliga club Schalke 04 are interested in a move for Sascha Riether. Even though his move to Fulham was just completed, it could be that Fulham purchased him just to resell him at a profit. There are also reports floating around that Galatasary is once again trying to purchase Kerim Frei. I feel like this rumor has been popping up for at least a year, but this time they are backed up by quotes from the team president and Kerim's father.

On the Sascha Riether rumor, I have trouble believing it would happen. The Schalke GM has admitted they won't pay a very high fee for him. Even if they were to pay £3M for him, leaving a £1.8M profit, Fulham would still need to find a right back and would only have £1.8M to do it. Chances are you can't find a replacement player anywhere close to Riether's quality for that price. The only way I could see sense in the move is if Fulham are confident that Jack Grimmer is ready for the first team this season and/or Riether has expressed interest in returning to Germany. Riether seems to have enjoyed his time at Fulham, and will get much more playing time there than he would for Schalke. However, we've seen before that the draw of Champions League Football can be a big one.

The Frei rumor actually makes more sense to me. Here's a quick list of player who could play on the LW for Fulham: Kerim Frei, Alexander Kacaniklic, Ashkan Dejagah, Damien Duff, Kieran Richardson, Pajtim Kasami, Mesca, Hugo Rodallega, and Bryan Ruiz. Now to be fair, not all of those players are best used there; and some are better when used on the right versus the left. However, it does show the depth Fulham have in wide midfield. Frei might once again struggle to get playing time in that group and if he has another season with injuries and very little playing time, his value is only going to drop. However he could have a very good U-20 World Cup performance, and his value might never be higher than it is following the tournament. I myself would rather him stay then go, but I could see how it is in his interest to move on. Especially to a club that is in the Champions League. If Galatasary were to overpay a bit, say £4-6M, the money could be used to buy a similar but more versatile player. Someone like Scott Sinclair or Gylfi Sigurdsson perhaps. Or the money could be used to fill a position of greater need, like a creative central midfield player.

Chances are of course this is just more silly season nonsense and nothing will come out of either rumor. They only serve to remind me how anxious I am for the season to start so that I have something more concrete to think about.