Fulham interested in Sterling and Dewsbury-Hall
- Published
Fulham have expressed an interest in signing both Raheem Sterling and Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall from Chelsea this summer.
Sterling, 30, has no future at Stamford Bridge and is among a group of a dozen or so players training away from the first team in what has been nicknamed the 'bomb squad'.
Chelsea's strong preference remains to sell Sterling and they have placed a £20m asking price on the winger, although his £300,000-a-week contract still has two years to run, making any deal out of the club more complicated.
Arsenal previously agreed to split the wage when signing him on loan last season, but even a 50-50 split would be a stretch for Fulham's comparatively modest wage bill.
Fulham would have to compete against Champions League clubs like Bayer Leverkusen, while Juventus and Napoli have also been credited with an interest.
They would, however, be attractive to Sterling, who could remain in his family home in London, with his son, Thiago, recently joining Arsenal's academy.
The Whites remain the only Premier League club yet to make a signing, but they are calm about the situation and aim to keep Marco Silva's current squad together, having made contact to re-sign former loanee Reiss Nelson from Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Dewsbury-Hall remains valued as a Blues squad player rather than an automatic starter and there is no sense he is pushing for a move, with West Ham also reportedly interested in signing the midfielder if the terms are favourable.
Chelsea feel they have made some progress on selling players this summer, with Noni Madueke, Djordje Petrovic and Kepa Arrizabalaga already gone for a combined £82m.
Goalkeeper Mike Penders, midfielder Kendry Paez and defender Mamadou Sarr are the three currently expected to join partner club Strasbourg - also owned by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital - on loan.
As with Sterling, the club's preference for on players who were out on loan last season and not wanted by manager Enzo Maresca is to sell.
Joao Felix is attracting interest from Saudi Arabia and his former club Benfica, with the latter strong favourites and expected to make a bid soon.