Fulham have received more offers to buy their players this summer than in any previous transfer window in the club’s history, according to manager Marco Silva.
Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal have tabled at least two bids for striker Aleksandar Mitrovic and remain intent on signing the Serbian, while there has been fellow Saudi interest in Silva and Willian too.
Elsewhere, Fulham rejected an £8.5m bid from Monaco for defender Tosin Adarabioyo and there has been concrete interest in midfielder Joao Palhinha from a number of Premier League clubs.
“This club, this season is receiving more offers than ever”, Silva revealed. “I’m talking about really [big] offers, in numbers that probably the club in the last few seasons didn’t expect to have.
“We have to be ready as a club for the consequences from the season that we had. If you perform like we did, if you do something that no one expected, something great, of course this club is probably receiving more offers than ever.”
“It’s for the board to decide and after it’s up to me to try and find the best solutions. No one told me, ‘Prepare because Mitrovic is sold’.”
Silva admitted it was a simple decision for the club to reject Monaco’s bid to buy centre-back Adarabioyo.
He continued: “It’s easy: we rejected the offer that we received because it’s not even close to the value for the player. The player is so, so important for us.
“I understand that the player is in the last year of his contract. We tried to [extend] it. We are not able to do it for different reasons. But the player is our player.”
Fulham host Brentford on Saturday, with Mitrovic absent due to a minor ankle injury while the Bees’ talisman Ivan Toney remains absent due to his betting ban which runs until January.
Silva said: “Of course, it’s going to be different when our main goalscorer is going to be out and their best goalscorer — one of their most important players — is out too.
“Both clubs are going to be without their main goalscorer for the last few seasons. It’s up to the player that is going to play in that role and the players around to take the chance and to be decisive in the game.”
A club statement on Tuesday updated fans on the delayed expansion of the Riverside Stand. It is not expected to be finished until next season.
He added: “It’s sad news, I have to say — for the fans, for the club, for me, for the owner. If you asked me if I would expect to see in the first home game of the season the Cottage full, definitely. I know that that stand can play a big part in the games as well. I would like it to be sooner, but it looks like it will be next season.”
