Fulham transfer target Arne Engels has joined West Ham for a Championship record signing of £22 million - but what does this mean for the Cottagers' plans?
Fulham transfer target Arne Engels has joined West Ham for a Championship record signing of £22 million.
The Cottagers were linked with the Celtic midfielder over a potential move and were said to have been monitoring him for some time.
But with Alvaro Arbeloa coming in and being appointed as Fulham manager, plans of course, changed and the club went after the likes of Cesar Palacios and Gonzalo Garcia.
They also pushed forward in their efforts to sign Shea Charles and so Engels became a player who had almost been forgotten about from a Fulham perspective.
And that level of funding, coupled with the ambition shown by both manager Nuno Espírito Santo and star player Jarrod Bowen staying at the club as they look to bounce straight back to the Premier League, was enough for Engels to approve of a move to the London Stadium.
From a Fulham perspective though, what does this mean for their plans going forward?
Well, the club have lost Sasa Lukic after he made a £9 million move to newly-promoted Ipswich Town.
But they have also secured a move for Charles in the same position.
Of course, the club also have Sander Berge, although he does have links to a possible Manchester United move, Harrison Reed and also Alex Iwobi who often slots into the pivot role.
Palacios, Emile Smith Rowe and Josh King will presumably vie for the No. 10 role, with Palacios also able to play on either side or a big deeper.
Where Fulham may now look is dependant in fact, on where Palacios fits into Arbeloa’s system.
He has looked extremely comfortable, and we know how much Arbeloa enjoys him, if he was chosen to play on the right, with Oscar Bobb the other right winger in the squad, then the place Fulham need to address is at the heart of the defence.
The club lost Harry Wilson and so need some cover on the right-hand side but Palacios may be that man; if he is not, then that will need addressing.
But Fulham have also lost Issa Diop to Ipswich, and that too is something that needs to be looked at with a measure of desperation.
Calvin Bassey and Joachim Andersen look set to retain their starting berths, and the club also has Jorge Cuenca and Canadian Luc De Fougerolles.
But there have been links to Chibuike Nwaiwu and also to Charlie Cresswell, who would both be excellent additions to the heart of the defence.
Raoul Bellanova is another one who Fulham could well target at right back, with that being an area that frustrated Marco Silva.
So in essence, Engels arrival at West Ham is no major loss to Fulham, who it feels are probably one or two players short from having had a superb summer transfer window.
