Contact initiated with Fulham player’s agent and brother – Bargain deal would be the plan

On January 9th, Gazzetta dello Sport reported AC Milan are following Fulham’s Tosin Adarabioyo and aim to take him away from the Premier League side next summer.

The centre-back recovered from a groin injury towards the end of November and has been a regular under Marco Silva since last month. He has less than six months left on his deal and it’s not clear where his future lies beyond this season.

Gianluca Di Marzio has a report on Milan’s interest in the Fulham player and the title says ‘contacts have started’ to sign him.

Within the report, he claims Milan technical director Geoffrey Moncada has been in contact with the defender’s brother and agent, to know the conditions needed to secure his services.

The Serie A side appear to be ‘more interested’ in securing the 26-year-old’s services after this season. Di Marzio adds the Rossoneri aren’t ruling out his possible arrival this month, but they’d obviously have to pay.

It won’t be easy for Milan to sign Adarabioyo, either this month or next summer, as there are other unnamed clubs looking at him. It’s not made mentioned whether Fulham have made an offer to renew his contract.

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Analysing Fulham’s most important Jenga blocks

In his debut article, Daniel PreFontaine explores our squad through the lens of Jenga Theory.

The ‘Jenga Theory’ within sports is something normally talked about within the NFL, but it’s something that has become clearly ever-present within Fulham Football Club’s current structure, success and shortcomings. This theory tends to reveal the struggles that cohesive and successful units experience when removing an intrinsic functional factor within the core of a team – think removing a crucial Jenga piece from the tower of blocks.

The values we see within the backbone of an NFL team can be easily compared to that in the strategy of Fulham’s ownership and operations. The Khans have taken this structure and utilised it through Fulham’s regularly consistent starting XIs; the signing of experienced Premier League talent and an impressionable backbone that has turned The Whites from that classic yo-yo team, back into its current and much deserved status as an established Premier League club.

This season, it’s become increasingly easy to tell where the backbone of Marco Silva’s squad starts and ends.

The Importance of a stable number nine

Now, it is easy to understand the brutal hangover Fulham have experienced from losing Mitrovic. However, this unfortunate series of events has opened an opportunity to revitalise the career of a certain tenacious Mexican.

Raul, who has shown snippets of brilliance through rabonas, overhead kicks to backheels, has been an ever-growing presence in the success of the team. On paper, Jimenez slides perfectly into Fulham’s natural attacking style. His impressive first touch, at times, has allowed Fulham to generate a free-flowing attack on the counter while, his strong presence in the opposition’s box, generates more forward progression and a clear target for our full-backs who tend to bomb forward.

His effectiveness with his back to goal has allowed the midfielders to express themselves, an important factor when matched up with technicians such as Iwobi and Cairney. Ultimately, enabling the retention of the style that allowed Mitrovic to thrive will in turn provide Fulham with the opportunity to bring back the free scoring, ruthless style we have seen previously.