Fulham

Did you learn anything from that pre-season game, Fulham fans?

Let us know your thoughts on the match here, external

We asked for your views on Fulham signing Emile Smith Rowe from Arsenal.

Here are some of your comments:

Will: I think this is the perfect move, we have seen in the past that Marco Silva has rejuvenated players such as Willian, Raul Jimenez and Adama Traore back to their best after a period of poor performance. It's a great move for him and I really think he will shine.

Ken: Marco Silva is one of Fulham's best managers. He has signed players whose careers looked like they were going backwards and completely turned them around. Let's hope he can do this with Smith Rowe and some other players he is linked with. Totally underestimated manager.

Peter: An Arsenal friend told me that Smith Rowe was better than Saka at one point and that he has been held back by injuries. If he stays fit I think this will be a great signing for Fulham. Arsenal fans unhappy to see him go tells you all you need to know.

Bill: A superb signing, can't wait to see Marco mould him into the side. Europe beckons!

Tom: Delighted! We have a good record in recent years of taking players whose careers have stalled at other Premier League clubs (Leno, Pereira, Wilson, Willian, Iwobi) and turning them into consistent performers. I hope Smith Rowe can join that list as we become an established Premier League team.

Image source, Getty Images

Fulham have announced the signing of Emile Smith Rowe from Arsenal for an undisclosed fee.

The 24-year-old England international has signed a five-year deal which will keep him at the club until 2029. The club has also negotiated the option to extend his contract for a further year.

The attacking midfielder made 13 Premier League appearances for the Gunners last season, registering two assists.

Speaking to club media after completing his move, Smith Rowe said: "I'm really excited. I just wanted to get here as quickly as possible so I could get going with my team-mates.

"Listening to the project, speaking to the manager and seeing what players we have here already, I think it is an exciting project for me.

"It is definitely the perfect step for my career going forward."

Fulham fans, are you excited by this signing? What do you think his role will be?

Tell us your thoughts here, external

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

It is anticipated Manchester United will reject Fulham's offer for Scott McTominay but the Scotland international's future is again uncertain after West Ham tried to sign him last summer.

The Old Trafford club are trying to generate funds to buy new players and the injuries to defender Leny Yoro, who is set to miss three months, and striker Rasmus Hojlund heighten the issue.

McTominay is moving into the prime years of his career and wants to be a first-team regular.

Fulham are in advanced talks to sign Villarreal's Spanish centre-back Jorge Cuenca, 24, for £6.7m. (Standard), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Friday's full gossip column

After Fulham revealed their new away kit for the 2024-25 season, we asked you what strips from the past it brings to mind:

Here are a selection of your comments:

Charlie: Very happy with this away kit! Best one we have had for some time! Some of our most historic moments have been wearing those two colours! Very excited to get my hands on it and to see it out on the field!

Huw: The 1975 FA Cup run - amazing days.

John: Away kit reminds me of the 1975 FA Cup run - Bobby Moore, Alan Mullery, Les Strong, John Mitchell, etc.

Will: Think this is an absolutely brilliant kit with elements of AC Milan. Can’t wait to see Rodrigo Muniz as number nine leading us to a great season in this.

Tom: Absolute stunner. Throwback to the 2001 away Pizza Hut classico. Best kit in the Premier League - hands down.

Image source, Fulham FC

Fulham have unveiled their away kit for the 2024-25 season.

The club say the kit "evokes memories of famous away Fulham strips".

But what do you make of it, Whites fans?

What seasons does it remind you of?

Let us know your thoughts, external

Fulham have agreed a deal to sign 24-year-old Spanish centre-back Jorge Cuenca from Villarreal. (Fabrizio Romano), external

Wolves and Fulham have entered the race to sign 21-year-old French defender Isaak Toure from Lorient. (Football Insider), external

Finally, the Whites have not ruled out sending English striker Jay Stansfield on loan again this season. The 21-year-old scored 13 goals on loan at Birmingham City last season. (Standard), external

Want more transfer stories? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

Players like Manchester United’s Rasmus Hojlund are already suffering from hamstring injuries two weeks before the season even starts - and they say the modern preparation regimes are better, safer and more scientific!

They probably are better. At least the players do not have to go through some of the borderline sadistic routines that previous generations did. Back then, after a decent length of summer break, pre-season meant working incredibly hard over a short period of time to get yourself back in top condition fast.

Sprinting up and down gigantic sand dunes against the clock until many players were physically sick was de rigueur, alongside other road runs and track work.

Here is the weird part: I used to look forward to that, the way a class swot looks forward to exams. Being smaller, lighter and a committed long-distance runner all my young life, even before I became a pro footballer, it was, if not exactly a piece of cake, then certainly much easier for me than most of the rest of the team.

I have asked many modern managers what they would prefer to do in a perfect world during their pre-season. The most common answer is "just about anything other than what we are forced to do now!"

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Fulham are set to make a new offer for Manchester United's 27-year-old Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay. (Football Insider), external

Want more transfer news? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Image source, Getty Images

Pat Nevin, former Chelsea, Everton and Scotland winger writing in his Football Extra newsletter:

The pre-season friendlies are in full swing and let's be straight about this, the players generally hate these games, whatever they say.

They clearly haven't had enough rest in the summer, it is a grind getting your body back into peak shape, especially if the accumulated injuries from last season haven’t been allowed to fully recover.

The games themselves are weird affairs, where you would like to win but that is nowhere near the most important thing. Fitness, integrating new players, possibly a new manager and sometimes a new system are each more important. You also know full well that it is a hotch-potch of a team selection to give players minutes. The fans, mass media and social media will read far too much into every game and every performance.

From within the team itself, there are different motivations. A young or new player being given his first chance will be racing about like an overexcited spaniel. Other experienced players will be easing themselves back into it, the primary concern in their minds is to be fit and healthy come the first weekend of the Premier League season.

‌Deep down they don't worry if they get thumped by Celtic or DC United on their US tours, nobody at Chelsea or Aston Villa will remember or care about these results in two weeks' time.

‌Unless of course you are a DC or indeed Celtic fan. The Celts just beat Chelsea and Man City. Now that is impressive pre-season form or is that just Scottish bias.

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David Lockwood
BBC Sport Editorial Sustainability Lead

Image source, Getty Images

Los Angeles or Chesterfield? San Diego or Salford?

The pre-season destinations of 20 Premier League clubs may be varied, but the issue remains the same - the impact of so many flights.

Half (10) of the clubs have flown to the United States for friendlies; three have travelled to the Far East and the rest are in Europe and the UK.

Manchester United's pre-season schedule see them flying almost 13,000 miles playing fixtures in Norway, Scotland, and across the US. Chelsea and Tottenham are also expected to fly in excess of 12,000 miles.

In contrast, Everton will fly the least, with just one fixture outside the UK in the Republic of Ireland.

Spurs and Newcastle also played an exhibition fixture in May - three days after the season finished - for which they both flew to Melbourne, Australia, a game Alan Shearer described as “madness”. Add in those air miles and both teams will have travelled in excess of 30,000 air miles in the close-season, equivalent to more than once around the globe, to play in non-competitive matches.

Newcastle and Spurs both have a target to be Net Zero by 2030, while Manchester United and Chelsea are in process of establishing an emissions reduction plan.

Net Zero requires the reduction and removal of all 'non-essential emissions' - so are these games essential?

Wycombe's David Wheeler is a leading sustainability campaigner in football and told BBC Sport: "These games are only necessary in the sense that the clubs want to make more money and grow their fan base".

He added: "The vast majority of players don't want to be away from their families, they don't want to be travelling around the world after a full slog of a season. They're overworked and injuries have gone through the roof, so there is a synergy between player welfare and planetary welfare."

An estimated travelling group of 30 flying 12,864 air miles business class generates around 200 tonnes of CO2 - the equivalent of 500,000 miles driven by an average petrol car, or the entire annual emissions for a year of 16 people in the UK.

Tottenham said it is "committed to minimising its environmental impact" in all its operations, "which will take time and effort". The club says it "ensures" all teams travel "as sustainably as possible throughout the season". It "measures, manages and reports on travel emissions" and will offsets "where possible."

Read more about the Premier League's pre-season air miles here

Nizaar Kinsella
BBC Sport football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Ryan Sessegnon is set to rejoin his former club Fulham as a free agent, in a return that is subject to the 24-year-old completing a medical.

The Fulham academy graduate left the west Londoners in 2019, but his spell at Tottenham was marred by reoccurring hamstring problems.

Sessegnon has since had surgery to overcome his fitness issues, which had limited him to just 57 appearances at Spurs.

The former England Under-21 international also had a trial at Crystal Palace but he could now become the first signing of the summer transfer window at Craven Cottage.

Sessegnon will sign a two-year deal with an option for a further season.

Fulham also remain in talks to sign Arsenal winger Emile Smith Rowe after having an initial offer rejected.

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter in Los Angeles

Image source, Getty Images

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has confirmed "things are happening in the background" around playmaker Emile Smith Rowe.

Smith Rowe was the only senior squad player not to feature in Arsenal's pre-season game against Bournemouth, which the Gunners won 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in 90 minutes.

Fulham are keen on 23-year-old Smith Rowe, who remained on the bench throughout.

"Things are happening in the background and we decided the best thing to do was leave him out," said Arteta.

Fulham will make an improved offer for Arsenal's Emile Smith Rowe. The Whites and Crystal Palace have both had transfer bids for the 23-year-old midfielder turned down by the Gunners this month. (Sky Sports), external

Want more transfer news? Read Thursday's full gossip column

Image source, Getty Images

Fulham were 4-0 winners earlier on Wednesday against Championship side QPR.

Harry Wilson scored twice after Raul Jimenez had given the Whites the lead from the penalty spot.

Adama Traore added the fourth in the second half, in a game where Fulham had 22 players gain some pre-season minutes.

Pat Nevin
Former footballer and presenter

Image source, Getty Images

It isn't quiet in one specific part of the major football clubs - the acquisitions department.

I know that because I was once the acquisitions department - well me and the manager mostly. While each player returned from holidays like a bronzed Adonis, we were cooped up in a small darkened room, beavering the daylight hours away like vampires.

There is plenty of guesswork in the media and a fair bit of leaking from the players and their people, but the clubs usually try to keep their transfer moves as quiet as possible.

If word gets out that a player is available, they know they might lose him to another club or else the price will increase as a bidding war erupts.

‌These are high stakes games and many are impressed by those who gamble and go early.

Manchester City have always been good enough, and let's be honest wealthy enough, to be able to do this well.

The problem is that some clubs are trying to do the same thing and are ending up paying top dollar for less able players, because they haven't done their due diligence in the market.

This is another area where the use of data, or maybe over-reliance on pure data, comes into play - feed all of the numbers in, let the technology do the crunching, and out comes the answer.

The problem is that everyone else has got the same or similar data.

What is needed, of course, is good human knowledge and the vision to aid the use of the information they have got. This is why these departments should be busy just now, they shouldn't just be doing deals which are admittedly very complex legal and financial documents these days.

Even more time should be spent on ensuring the new £75m player hasn't got a hidden weakness in his game or even the odd skeleton in his closet.

Pat Nevin was writing for the BBC Football Extra Newsletter

Manchester United do not want to allow 27-year-old Scotland midfielder Scott McTominay to leave Old Trafford, amid interest from Fulham and Tottenham. (Standard), external

Want more transfer news? Read Monday's full gossip column