Vincenzo Montella is poised to seal a loan move to Craven Cottage.
The former Italian international striker, scorer of over 100 goals for AS Roma and a member of the clubs’ 2001 title-winning side, will join Fulham until the end of the season.
“I hope he will score many goals in England and also that he one day comes back to Roma,” said teammate Philippe Mexes about the player, who remains under contract in the Italian capital until 2010.
Major League Soccer (MLS) have agreed to send Clint Dempsey to English Premier League side Fulham for what would be the largest transfer fee in the US league’s history – if the New England Revolution midfielder can obtain a British work permit.
Revolution spokesman Brad Feldman confirmed pm Tuesday that the MLS agreed to the terms of a transfer with the British club.
The agreement could be worth up to 2M GBP, a person familiar with the agreement said on Tuesday, speaking on condition of anonymity because the deal was not yet final.
MLS` current high is about 1.75m GBP, including incentive bonuses, in the deal that sent forward Stern John to Nottingham Forest after the 1999 season. In 2003, MLS sold goalkeeper Tim Howard`s rights to Manchester United for approximately 1.5M GBP, including incentives.
A player from outside the European Union must play in 75% of his national team`s recent games to obtain a work permit. Dempsey falls just short of that, playing in nine of 13 US matches last year – about 69% – and 23 national team games in all.
The appeal could be heard this month. –
Fulham have joined Newcastle in the race for Chelsea midfielder Lassana Diarra and are also ready to bid for Southend striker Freddy Eastwood.
Chelsea knocked back an opening enquiry from Newcastle for 21-year-old former Le Havre prospect Diarra and are reluctant to sell after being rocked by a series of injuries.
Fulham manager Chris Coleman will press ahead with his interest, though, and is hopeful of prising Eastwood away from Southend.
Portsmouth are also monitoring Eastwood’s availability, as Southend face the prospect of relegation to League One, but Coleman believes he is in pole position to complete a deal that could lead to Collins John’s Fulham departure.
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