Fulham enter talks with Raoul Bellanova - who is he and what can he provide?

Fulham have entered talks with Atalanta right-back Raoul Bellanova, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Cottagers have been in the market for a new right-back for some time and have been linked with Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Wagner Pina of West Ham and Trabzonspor, respectively.

Now though, it would appear that Fulham have turned their interest to Serie A and the 26-year-old Italian is their next target.

Romano has in fact since reported that Fulham have put in a £20 million bid for him which has been rejected and so it will be interesting to see if the Cottagers return to the bidding table or not.

It has already been a hugely busy summer period for Fulham, who have recruited well over the past few weeks, securing deals for Gonzalo Garcia and Cesar Palacios from Real Madrid, as well as for Shea Charles from Southampton and securing a permanent deal for Jonah Kusi-Asare from Bayern Munich.

Of course, they have also seen Alvaro Arbeloa come in as their new manager, while there have also been major exits in the form of Harry Wilson, Raul Jimenez, Issa Diop and Sasa Lukic.

Fulham’s sales may not yet be done, but it seems that their arrivals are also not done and they have an interest in signing Bellanova.

But who is he and why are Fulham interested in him?

Raoul Bellanova is 26 years old and has become a specialist right wing-back for Atalanta.

He spent 13 years at AC Milan in their various youth set ups from the age of six until 19, before going on to play for Bordeaux, where he spent time on loan at Atalanta, Pescara and Cagliari, who he joined permanently in 2022.

He was then loaned out to Inter Milan, before joining Torino permanently and then returning to Atalanta on a permanent deal in 2024.

He has now played for his current side 79 times in all competitions, scoring one goal in that time.

Bellanova has represented Italy six times, most recently in 2025.

Well, aside from the fact that the club want to sign reinforcements at right back anyway, Bellanova has a lot of qualities that theoretically would make him a very useful member of the Fulham squad.

Bellanova’s physical attributes are particularly appealing and suggest that he would suit the demands of the Premier League, while he would fit the mould of an Arbeloa full-back due to his ability to get forward and his offensive-mindedness.

Arbeloa’s full-backs, as we have seen in pre-season through Ryan Sessegnon, Antonee Robinson and Timothy Castagne, have been advancing very high and getting involved in both the goals and assists, and Bellanova’s natural instinct to bomb forward could well make him a very useful asset for the Spaniard.