Whatever happens before the transfer window closes, Fulham’s best piece of business this summer will be holding on to Marco Silva.
Fulham feared losing Silva when he was offered £40million for a two-year to join Saudi Arabian club Al-Ahli.
“My decision was to stay”, said Silva, who guided Fulham to 10th last season and rightly earned plaudits for his high-intensity football. “I was not close to leaving. I want to challenge myself in the best and most difficult league in the world.”
Silva says striker Aleksandar Mitrovic is “ready to play” against Everton on Saturday, despite uncertainty over his future.
The Serb, who has also had interest from Saudi Arabia this summer, has made it clear he wants to leave Craven Cottage.
“He is ready to play,” said Silva. “Since he started to work with his team-mates again, on the pitch again, he’s been the Mitrovic that I know.
Fulham will travel to Goodison Park without star midfielder Joao Palhinha, who remains sidelined with the shoulder injured he sustained in pre-season.
New signings Calvin Bassey from Ajax and Raul Jimenez from Wolves have “settled in really well”, according to Silva.
But he is wary of the club’s need to bolster his squad.
Silva said: “We are really short on numbers. Seven players left, and when you sign just two players, we definitely need more faces in. We want to add quality, [but] I would have liked to have them earlier. I’ve said what I’ve said to the board. I am working with the owners to get this done as soon as possible.”
Fulham saw Manor Solomon, Layvin Kuzawa and Cedric Soares depart at their end of their loans, and Shane Duffy, Joe Bryan and Paulo Gazzaniga departed on frees.
A new offer was made to Neeskens Kebano, but he rejected it before signing for Al-Jazira in the UAE.
Lille have confirmed the signing of Ivan Cavaleiro, who was heading into his final season as a Fulham player, having joined initially on loan in 2019.
Silva says he has not received confirmation that an agreement between Everton and Fulham is in place for the signing of Demarai Gray.
