EXCLUSIVE: Fulham target Phillips and Arsenal wonderkid in triple summer raid

Steve Kay

• Updated: 7 Apr 2024 09:39 BST
• 8 min read

Exclusive

Fulham are already lining up three summer transfers, FootballTransfers has been told by sources close to the club.

Among the players that the Craven Cottage outfit are looking at are Manchester City midfielder Kalvin Phillips, Arsenal’s Charlie Patino and Coventry’s Callum O’Hare.

With Joao Palhinha liable to be courted by some of Europe’s biggest teams in the summer, Fulham are looking at a string of different possibilities in that area of the park.

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A marquee player is expected to arrive, with England international Phillips potentially filling that role.

A €50 million transfer to Manchester City in the summer of 2022 has not gone as the former Leeds star would have wished, while a January loan move to West Ham United has failed to reinvigorate the 28-year-old’s career. David Moyes’ side have already indicated that they will send Phillips back to the Etihad in the summer.

Interest remains from Leeds, yet a deal will hinge on both the Elland Road outfit winning promotion back to the Premier League and finding sufficient funds to land him.

Fulham, meanwhile, are working on the possibility of signing him.

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Fulham target Patino

Similarly, Marco Silva’s side are seeking to breathe new life into the career of Patino, despite the 20-year-old enduring a lacklustre loan spell in the Championship with Swansea.

Mikel Arteta retains the belief that Patino, who has long been tipped for the top, has the capacity to succeed in the Premier League sooner rather than later, and it appears that Fulham share that perspective.

The final name that Fulham are chasing is 25-year-old Coventry midfielder O’Hare.

The Cottagers have already spoken to the Championship side a couple of times with regards the possibility of a deal.

O’Hare, meanwhile, is a free agent at the end of the season, having refused to sign a new deal with Coventry.

His departure is considered as a more damaging one than last summer’s departure of Viktor Gyokeres by the Sky Blues, who are frustrated at the prospect of losing one of their best players for free after standing by him through a serious injury.

Palhinha may well be on his way, but Fulham are well prepared.