‘Marco Silva fumes at Fulham’s transfer plans after Reiss Nelson update’
Marco Silva has never been shy in criticising Fulham’s transfer issues and the latest on Reiss Nelson will have likely annoyed the Portuguese manager further.
The Arsenal winger spent last season on loan at Craven Cottage, before Nelson’s season was abruptly cut short by an injury that required surgery.
The 25-year-old had made 12 appearances for the Whites, scoring once and assisting once. Whilst his stats were by no means mind-blowing, the winger has a nuanced and balanced set of skills out wide that few others Cottagers were able to offer.
As a consequence, Fulham were exploring a move to bring Nelson back to West London this summer, and hoped to do a deal before Arsenal jetted out for their pre-season tour of Asia.
However, the Gunners’ trip to the Far East is in full swing, and the winger is no closer to a return to Craven Cottage; in fact, his future seems more likely to lie in a different part of London entirely.
Arsenal consider using Nelson as part of Eberechi Eze deal
The Independent reports that, with Arsenal’s deal for Viktor Gyokeres nearing its final stages, Mikel Arteta’s side are turning their attention to signing Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze.
The Gunners are hoping to pay under the England international’s reported £68million release clause.
As part of their efforts to secure Eze at a lower price, “there is the possibility that Nelson could be included in any deal”.
Marco Silva vocal about transfer issues
Silva decided to remain in West London this summer after interest from Tottenham, Juventus, and Al-Hilal.
However, one bugbear for the Portuguese boss during his time at Fulham has been their less-than-stellar record in the transfer market.
In 2022, The Athletic revealed Silva was unhappy with the Whites’ transfer moves, which included an at-the-time failed deal to sign Joao Palhinha “owing to a disagreement between the agents working on it”.
The issue has reared its head several times since then, and once again, this summer Silva voiced his discontent with Fulham‘s lack of activity, saying via The Standard that the Whites “have a lot of business to do”.
Benjamin Lecomte has joined from Ligue 2 side Montpellier, with the Frenchman becoming the first arrival at Craven Cottage this summer.
Frustratingly for their fanbase, Fulham risk missing their window to qualify for European football next season. Brighton, Nottingham Forest, Brentford, and Bournemouth have been picked apart by the continent’s biggest clubs, whilst the Cottagers remain relatively intact from last season, and are likely just a few top-quality additions from returning to continental competition for the first time in over a decade.
And yet, it is clear to see that with Nelson potentially heading to a local rival and little by way of other arrivals, except for a 34-year-old back-up goalkeeper, the Whites are doing little to support the best manager in the club’s history, and Silva will not be happy about it.