Fulham: Cottagers looking to sign “amazing” player with £100m+ release cla

Marco Silva is reportedly seeking reinforcements..

Fulham have started the season exactly how you’d expect a side to start after losing their talisman late in the window, before facing a battle to keep hold of arguably their best midfielder – eventually winning that battle.

Without Aleksandar Mitrovic, the Cottagers have won just once in four Premier League games this season, which came against Everton on the opening day. They did put in an encouraging display against Arsenal, however, battling to eventually take a point away from The Emirates.

With losses against Manchester City and Brentford, though, Marco Silva and the board may already turn their attention towards the January transfer window. Given those results, one particular target has emerged that Fulham are interested in when it comes to potential reinforcements.

What’s the latest Fulham transfer news?

Fulham may have lost Mitrovic in the summer, but that’s not to say that Silva didn’t receive any boosts when it came to incomings in the summer transfer window. In total, the Cottagers welcomed seven fresh faces, ranging from experienced heads like Raul Jimenez and Alex Iwobi to rising stars like Calvin Bassey. Reports suggest that their spending could only be on hold, too, with an eye on the January transfer window.

According to O Jogo, via Sport Witness, Fulham are interested in signing Benfica midfielder Florentino Luis, who reportedly has a €120m (£104m) release clause. The Premier League side will have to act swiftly if they do want to sign the Benfica man, however, with Nottingham Forest, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich also reportedly interested in the midfielder.

It remains to be seen whether Fulham will be in a position to land Luis come January, or even next summer, it must be said. The fact that Joao Palhinha and Harrison Reed just put pen to paper on new deals at the club could mean that Silva’s need for a midfielder significantly goes down Fulham’s list of priorities.

Should Fulham sign Florentino Luis?

At 24, Luis looks set to have the world at his feet, given the interest in his future from around Europe. And that interest comes as no surprise, as statistics show.

According to FBref, the defensive midfielder is in the top 97 percentile for passes attempted, whilst being in the top 93 percentile for completion rate, with 88.8%. Meanwhile, Luis is also in the top 96 percentile for tackles per 90, making 3.47, and the top 99 percentile for interceptions, with 2.62 per 90.

With numbers that impressive, the praise that Luis has received comes as little shock, with former Benfica coach Joao Tralhao saying, via HITC: “He has the talent and quality to play in elite teams. Remember when Real Madrid had the Galacticos? They needed someone to balance the team, and [Claude] Makelele was so important.

“More recently, Casemiro did that job, allowing [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Luka] Modric and [Karim] Benzema to attack. Florentino has those capabilities. He’s having an amazing season under Roger Schmidt. He can play anywhere, Real Madrid, Barcelona, Liverpool, anywhere. He would have no problem adapting.”

With that said, it will certainly be interesting to see if Fulham push on and pursue the signature of Luis when the transfer window comes around.