Fulham are on the verge of offering manager Marco Silva a new contract to ward off interest from Leeds – but they’ll need to offer him assurances that they’ll sign new players in January to persuade him to stay.
Considering that Silva and his employers have had differing opinions on the recent incomings and outgoings at the club, any signature on a new contract could be an issue. Fulham reportedly spent just under £40million on four players this summer. However, around £35m of those expenses were spent on club-record signing Kevin from Shakhtar Donetsk.
The remaining fees were spent quietly, with the season-long loan signing of Jonah Kusi-Asare from Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, Benjamin Lecomte from Montpellier HSC, and another loanee in the form of Samuel Chukwueze from AC Milan.
Despite only being one point above the relegation zone after accumulating 11 points (W3, D2, L6) from the same number of matches in the 2025/26 Premier League campaign. Only bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers (9), West Ham United (7), and newly-promoted Burnley (7) have lost more matches to put the exclamation point on the Cottagers’ below-par start.
This might come as a surprise to many of the club’s supporters; however, considering long-term admirers of Silva, Leeds are reportedly looking to replace their current manager, Daniel Farke, it could simply be a case of management at Craven Cottage pulling up the English capital city club’s drawbridge.
So far this season, Fulham have only found the back of the net on only 12 occasions throughout 11 Premier League matches (Ryan Sessegnon – 2, Harry Wilson – 2, Alex Iwobi – 1, Emile Smith Rowe – 1, Saša Lukić – 1, Raúl Jiménez – 1, Rodrigo Muniz – 1 and three own-goals), so reinforcements in the final third should be top of the list.
Four players Fulham could sign in the January transfer window
Ivan Toney (Al-Ahli)
Surely, their number one target has to be former Brentford forward Ivan Toney, who is being heavily linked with a number of clubs that are looking to bring him back to the Premier League from the Saudi Pro League. The striker celebrated 36 goals across 85 appearances for Brentford, including 20 times in the 2022/23 campaign, which saw only Erling Haaland (36) and Harry Kane (30) net more.
Joel Piroe (Leeds United)
If Fulham wanted to issue a bold and rather forceful statement that their 48-year-old Portuguese manager isn’t for sale to Leeds, they could make a move for last season’s Championship top-scorer Joël Piroe. Piroe, who scored 19 goals in 2024/25, earning him the Golden Boot accolade for that particular season, and part of the Premier League promotion party at Elland Road. The Dutch striker, who has been capped for his country all the way through the youth ranks from Under 15s up to 20s – minus U17s – was sensational for Swansea City between 2021-23, scoring 41 goals in 90 appearances, which earned him a move to Leeds for a sum reported to be around £10m.
Surprisedly, including to me, he has only started two Premier League matches in the 2025/26 campaign – but clearly in Farke’s mind he is now behind Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Lukas Nmecha and Noah Okafor in the striking pecking order and could therefore be an option for Fulham to bring in on a short-term loan deal until the end of the season throughout his potential availability in January.
Personally, I had the pleasure of watching Piroe score a lot of his goals in the Championship last season – a couple of right screamers in there as well, so I would have faith in him to rediscover that very-recent goalscoring touch in the box if he were to decide to catch the train from West Yorkshire up to the capital city.
Sergio Reguilón (Free Agent)
At the opposite end of the pitch, the 16 goals conceded this season must surely be a concern to Silva, so bringing in defensive reinforcements could be an option, especially at full-back, with assist king Antonee Robinson having only played 61 minutes due to an ongoing knee injury.
Defensively, goalkeeper Bernd Leno and his customary back-four of Kenny Tete, Joachim Andersen, Calvin Bassey, and Ryan Sessegnon, on paper, are capable of keeping clean sheets whenever they want. It took over £25 million to take Anderson away from Crystal Palace’s hands, and Bassey has played in the UEFA Champions League with Ajax, just to give a couple of examples. There is no indication, however, from Silva and co that first-choice goalkeeper Leno will eventually be replaced by new summer signing Lecomte.
With no new entity needed between the sticks for now, and centre-back not being as much of a priority as left full-back considering Fulham still have Issa Diop and Jorge Cuenca, if they need to replace an injured Andersen and/or Bassey at the heart of the Cottagers’ defence, Silva might not wait until January.
Currently without a club since departing Tottenham Hotspur in the summer after being sent out on loan to several fellow top-flight sides including Manchester United and Brentford, Reguilón has proven paramount PL experience, certainly has a similar attacking profile to the injury-stricken Robinson, and would not be the worst signing to bring into Craven Cottage on a free transfer any time they think necessary, if they feel the former Real Madrid man fits the mould .
Miralem Pjanić (Free Agent)
Onto the midfield, Saša Lukić and Sander Berge (who was only upstaged by Haaland and Martin Ødegaard in 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying with Norway, who progressed to their first FIFA World Cup finals since 1998 courtesy of an unblemished eight-match winning streak) have done visibly well for the cameras when tasked with playing in front of the Cottagers’ defence.
Age like a fine wine: that’s exactly how Pjanić should be described on the pitch. The former Juventus, Lyon, AS Roma, and Barcelona central midfielder boasts an impressive footballing CV. He can play as a box-to-box midfielder and put in effortless defensive displays. He would be an ideal candidate to cover for Lukić or Berge. Most recently, he played in Russia with CSKA Moscow, where he lifted the Russian Cup last season. The retired Bosnia and Herzegovina international is the second-most capped player with 115 appearances and 18 goals. He still has a lot to offer, as shown by his recent silverware-winning exploits.
In conclusion, Fulham have clearly struggled to hit the back of the net so far this season. It would appear that the likes of Toney and/or Piroe could be viable options for Silva to present to the Craven Cottage board, with Jiménez and Muniz currently misfiring in front of goal. Further back, replacing Robinson might be something to examine, but with the United States international considered by many to be one, if not, the best attacking fullback in the country, that might be a harder task than first contemplated.
