Fulham may have Premier League rivals Southampton to blame – to an extent – if their hopes of bringing a new centre-forward to Craven Cottage take a hit ahead of the January transfer window.
While tenth in the table may be a more than respectable place for Marco Silva’s side to find themselves in after 13 matches, the frustration nagging away at the back of Fulham minds is that things really could be a little bit better.
In those narrow defeats to Manchester United and Manchester City – and even during the eventual 4-1 defeat to a Matheus Cunha-inspired Wolves – Fulham created chances, missed chances, and were made to pay at the other end of the pitch.
Raul Jimenez’s return to form has been a sight to behold; the Mexican not quite back to his pre-injury best but not a million miles away.
But with Rodrigo Muniz yet to recapture lightning in a bottle, with Andreas Pereira, Adama Traore and Reiss Nelson not exactly prolific and Emile Smith Rowe finding the net just three times, the feeling at Fulham is that another goalscoring is required if Silva can build upon those mid-table foundations.
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Fulham warned off Tolu Arokodare with Genk haunted by Southampton deal
Fulham watched Botafogo and Brazil ace Igor Jesus in November, TBR understands.
The £30 million-rated Igor Jesus scored on his Selecao debut recently. And, likening himself to Vinicius Jr and Gabriel Martinelli, would bring to West London the sort of speed and agility lacking with Jimenez in the number nine role.
Fulham also like KRC Genk giant Tolo Arokodare. A very different sort of centre-forward, Arokodare’s rangy 6ft 6ins frame makes him a more classic, old-school option in the final third.
But, with ten goals in 16 Belgian top-flight games this season, Arokodare could fit in nicely with service provided by the likes of Antonee Robinson, Harry Wilson and the aforementioned Nelson.
Genk have been here before, however.
Midway through the 2022/23 season, Genk sold Arokodare’s predecessor – the similarly sky-scraping Paul Onuachu – in an £18 million deal with Southampton. Genk would go on to miss out on the title by one solitary point while Onuachu ended up suffering relegation at St Mary’s.
Two years on, with Arokodare firing Genk into top spot, their head of football Dimitri de Conde is understandably keen to ensure that history does not repeat itself.
Genk boss says Arokodare ‘may not leave’ amid Craven Cottage links
“The group of players knows that we want to keep everyone together,” De Conde tells TVL. “There is no agreement with any player that we will cooperate with a transfer in January if a good offer comes in, which has been the case in the past.
“Tolu may not leave. He is also very grateful to our coach and will not leave [Thorsten] Fink and Genk just like that.”
De Conde’s words with be music to Fink’s ears. The man who has guided Genk five points clear at the top of the Jupiler League believes ‘there is no better striker’ in the country right now. There is certainly no one more prolific, Arokodare joint-top of the scoring charts.
“Believe me, there is no better striker in Belgium than Tolu,” Fink told reporters in August when Turkish giants Trabzonspor were linked. “I really hope we can convince him to stay.
“You won’t find a striker with his qualities for under 10 million [euros].”