By Tom Caldwell.
It’s the summer of 2018. Fulham have just been promoted and are eagerly anticipating their first top-flight campaign since 2013/14.
Spirits are high in the English capital, buoyed by the national team heroically reaching the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia.
Fulham have spent £100m on players. Full of optimism, they head into the season with hopes of a top-half finish.
Will they achieve it? Quite the opposite.
They go straight back down.
What follows is a look at Fulham’s five most expensive signings from the spending spree ahead of that season, and what on earth happened to them.
Jean Michaël Seri – £27m
Now on loan at Galatasaray, it really hasn’t gone well for Seri, shown by his current market value of £8.55m according to Transfermarkt.
He is still a Fulham player but is now out in Turkey playing regularly. At the age of 28 his hopes of making it in the English Premier League might not yet be over, but his chances appear slim.
André-Frank Zambo Anguissa – £22m
Now on loan at Villarreal, he is in a similar situation to Seri. He has performed reasonably well in Spain, and at just 24 he could easily be a decent player in the future whether it be at Fulham or elsewhere.
He is predominantly a central midfielder but is more than competent further back if needed, meaning he could be a versatile option. There’s still hope for Anguissa but was a terrible piece of business for Fulham at the time.
Alexander Mitrovic – £22m
Still at Fulham, and finally, a great piece of business. Mitrovic wasn’t convincing in his first full season but during this campaign he has been absolutely sensational, scoring bags of goals including many winners, and has been arguably the best goalscorer in the Championship this year. Mitrovic could yet fire them back up to the Premer League.
Alfie Mawson – £15m
Another player who is still at Fulham, Mawson seemed like a great deal after he shone for Swansea in the Premier League.
He has never really got going at Fulham, though, and it could be argued they haven’t got their £15m worth, although he is still playing regularly for them. Based on his time at Swansea, Mawson is still not up to his own standards but if he re finds his old form, could still be a great asset.
Joe Bryan – £6m
Joe Bryan was a decent pick up and is still at the club. His market value has increased and he is still playing very well, week in week out.
Although he is nothing spectacular he has been solid for Fulham which is just what they needed, and perhaps the type of signing they should have made more of.
Other dreadful signings or loans Fulham made that season include Ryan Babel, Andre Schürrle, Havard Nordveit, Lazar Markovic, Maxime La Merchand and Fabri.
COMMENTS
Interesting and correct Tom. Fulham have been very poor in most of their games. I enjoyed your analysis of their spending.