Fulham are close to offering manager Marco Silva a new contract to fend off interest from Leeds, but they will have to give him assurances that they will sign new players in January to convince him to stay.
Given that Silva and his employers have different views on recent income and expenditure at the club, any signing of a new contract could be a problem. Fulham reportedly spent just under £40 million on four players this summer. However, around £35 million of that expenditure was spent on signing club record Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk.
The remaining fees were spent quietly, with the signings of Jonah Kusi-Asare from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, Benjamin Lecomte from Montpellier HSC and another loanee in the form of Samuel Chukwueze from AC Milan.
Despite being just one point above the relegation zone after collecting 11 points (W3, D2, L6) from the same number of games in the 2025/26 Premier League season. Only Wolverhampton Wanderers (9), West Ham United (7) and newly promoted Burnley (7), who sit at the bottom of the table, have lost more games, putting the exclamation point on the Cottagers’ sub-par start.
This may come as a surprise to many of the club’s supporters; But given Silva’s long-term admirers, Leeds are reportedly looking to replace their current manager, Daniel Farke. It could simply be a case of management at Craven Cottage pulling up the drawbridge on England’s capital club.
So far this season, Fulham have only found the net 12 times in 11 Premier League matches (Ryan Sessegnon – two, Harry Wilson – two, Alex Iwobi – one, Emile Smith Rowe – one, Saša Lukić – one, Raúl Jiménez – one, Rodrigo Muniz – one and three own goals), so reinforcements in the final third should be top of the list.
Four Fulham players could sign in the January transfer window
Ivan Toney (Al Ahli)
Their main target is undoubtedly former Brentford striker Ivan Toney, who is closely linked with a number of clubs who want to bring him back to the Premier League from the Saudi Pro League. The forward scored 36 goals in 85 appearances for Brentford, including 20 goals in the 2022/23 season, when only Erling Haaland (36) and Harry Kane (30) scored more.
Joël Piroe (Leeds United)
If Fulham were to make a bold and rather forceful statement that their 48-year-old Portuguese manager is not for sale to Leeds, they could make a move for last season’s Championship top scorer, Joël Piroe. Piroe, who scored 19 goals in 2024/25, earning him the Golden Boot for that season, and was part of the Premier League promotion party at Elland Road. The Dutch forward, who came through the entire youth academy for his country, from Under 15s to 20s – minus the Under 17s – was sensational for Swansea City between 2021 and 2023. He scored 41 goals in 90 games, which earned him a transfer to Leeds for a fee of around £10 million.
Surprised, even for me, he has only started two Premier League matches in the 2025/2026 season, but according to Farke he is now clearly behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lukas Nmecha and Noah Okafor in the pecking order and could therefore be an option for Fulham to go on loan until the end of the season during his potential availability in January.
Personally, I had the pleasure of seeing Piroe score many of his goals in the Championship last season – a few right-wing screamers there too, so I would be confident he would rediscover that very recent goalscorer in the penalty area if he decided to take the train from West Yorkshire to the capital.
Sergio Reguilon (free agent)
At the other end of the pitch, 16 goals conceded this season should certainly be a concern for Silva, so bringing in defensive reinforcements could be an option, especially at wing-back, with assist king Antonee Robinson having played just 61 minutes due to a persistent knee injury.
Defensively, goalkeeper Bernd Leno and his usual back-four of Kenny Tete, Joachim Andersen, Calvin Bassey and Ryan Sessegnon are on paper capable of keeping a clean sheet whenever they want. It cost over £25 million to sign Anderson from Crystal Palace, and Bassey has played with Ajax in the UEFA Champions League, to name just a few examples. However, there is no indication from Silva and co that first-choice goalkeeper Leno will ultimately be replaced by new summer signing Lecomte.
With no need for a new entity between the sticks for the time being and the centre-back not being as big a priority as the left-back, as Fulham still have Issa Diop and Jorge Cuenca, if they need to replace the injured Andersen and/or Bassey at the heart of the Cottagers’ defense, Silva may not wait until January.
Reguilón is currently without a club since leaving Tottenham Hotspur in the summer after being loaned out to several other top sides including Manchester United and Brentford. Reguilón has proven himself to have excellent PL experience, certainly has a similar attacking profile to the injury-hit Robinson, and wouldn’t be the worst signing for Craven Cottage on a free transfer when they see fit, if they feel the former Real Madrid man fits the mould.
Miralem Pjanić (free agent)
In midfield, Saša Lukić and Sander Berge (who was only surpassed by Haaland and Martin Ødegaard in 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying with Norway, who advanced to their first FIFA World Cup final since 1998 thanks to an impeccable eight-match winning streak) visibly did well in front of the cameras when they were tasked with playing in front of the Cottagers’ defence.
Aging like a fine wine: that’s how Pjanić should be described on the pitch. The former central midfielder for Juventus, Lyon, AS Roma and Barcelona has an impressive football CV. He can play as a box-to-box midfielder and can play defense effortlessly. He would be an ideal candidate to cover Lukić or Berge. He most recently played in Russia for CSKA Moscow, where he won the Russian Cup last season. The retired Bosnia and Herzegovina international is the second highest player with 115 appearances and 18 goals. He still has a lot to offer, as evidenced by his recent silverware-winning performances.
In conclusion, Fulham have clearly struggled to find the back of the net this season. It appears that the likes of Toney and/or Piroe could be viable options for Silva to present to the Craven Cottage board, with Jiménez and Muniz currently missing in front of goal. Moving on, replacing Robinson would be something to explore, but with the US international considered by many to be one, if not the, best attacking full-back in the country, that could be a more difficult task than initially considered.
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