According to reports from London Evening Standard, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur are both showing a ‘strong interest’ in Fulham striker Moussa Dembele ahead of the January transfer window.
Much hype surrounded the 6-foot frontman when he joined the Craven Cottage ranks from PSG’s academy in 2012 and he’s starting to deliver in his heralded ability, bagging eight goals in 15 Championship starts this season.
Also a regular for France at youth level, picking up 33 caps from the U16 to U20 age groups, Dembele’s enormous potential has been known outside of west London for some time – and this is by no means the only occasion in which Spurs and United have been linked with his signature.
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But the January transfer window is just around the corner and with the 19-year-old’s Fulham contract set to expire at the end of the season, the race for his signature is gathering momentum – although the offer of a four-and-a-half-year-extension with the Cottagers is already on the table.
The fact that foreign clubs will be allowed to discuss pre-contract terms with Dembele in the new year could well force Fulham to sell to the Premier League instead. Under FIFA rules, they’d only have to pay a small compensation fee, likely less than £1million, whilst English clubs would be charged significantly more under Premier League regulations. Liverpool could end up paying around £10million for Bosman acquisition Danny Ings, for example.
That means it’s both in Fulham’s and Spurs and Manchester United’s interest to strike up a deal in the coming transfer window – for less than a potential compensation fee but more than a foreign suitor would have to pay. However, the chances of Dembele electing to continue his development in west London are certainly not unlikely.