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The Aleksandar Mitrovic era ends, not with the montages and videos and fond farewells that his record merited, but with a blunt, bland statement posted on a club website because that is how he made it happen.
Deep down, Fulham supporters knew that Mitrovic was ambitious. But leaving for the big-money move to Saudi Arabia, and being so blatant in his engineering of that move, leaves a very sour taste.
The positive spin is that Fulham have received a huge transfer fee (reported to be £50m), 50 per cent higher than when they sold Ryan Sessegnon to Tottenham.
If Marco Silva is permitted to reinvest – and he says that he will be – they could buy two forwards, add depth to the squad and get over the loss of a striker who missed a third of last season anyway.
The more negative assessment – and it’s one that some Fulham supporters are edging closer towards: Mitrovic was the difference-maker. He wasn’t just a goalscorer – he was a presence and a mood and without him Fulham lose a large part of the identity over the last two seasons.
Those same fans have an uneasy relationship with their club over issues of ticket pricing and supporter engagement. They will believe that all the Mitrovic money will be reinvested when they see it.
Fulham must move quickly. Right now, their first-choice centre forward is Raul Jimenez, a 32-year-old with six goals in his last 55 Premier League appearances.
Mitrovic was not perfect, but at his best he won Fulham points on his own. They lost eight league games last season without him in the team and seven of those defeats were by a single goal.
The fear is that, in his absence, Fulham will once again fall on the wrong side of those fine margins.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://inews.co.uk/sport/football/fulham-reinvest-aleksandar-mitrovic-transfer-fee-define-season-2561292
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