OPINION
Fulham appear to be oozing desperation in their quest to sign Newcastle United forward Aleksandar Mitrovic on a permanent basis and Mike Ashley must exploit them for showing their hand.
The Magpies owner has always squeezed every last bit of money he can out of every player he has sold, while refusing to be forced into paying ludicrous amounts on signing new players and he should give the Cottagers a tough time.
Ashley should be in his element when it comes to getting the most money out of Fulham, who have a billionaire owner in the form of Shahid Khan as reported by the Independent, as he will be able to inflate Mitrovic’s price and they will still pay it.
Mitrovic scored 12 goals in 20 appearances for the Cottagers after spending the second half of his 2017/18 campaign on loan at the London club and he was one of the main reasons the club were able to win promotion to the Premier League next season.
With Fulham set to be Premier League new boys for the 2018/19 season, the Londoners clearly have their heart set on signing the Magpies’ powerhouse footballer who transformed their luck in front of goal upon arriving.
Yet while it would be smart for the Cottagers to play down their affection they clearly can’t help themselves.
Fulham captain Tom Cairney put pressure on his club to sign the forward on Wednesday in an interview with the London Evening Standard.
“We have got to try and sign him,” the midfielder told the newspaper.
This comes after Slavisa Jokanovic revealed in an interview with Get West London in April that he’d want Mitrovic permanently in his squad.
“Everything is open, part of another side if you ask me about if I want him with us, yes I want,” said the Fulham manager when asked about keeping the forward.
While Jokanovic tried to play down his role in transfers, Fulham are no doubt aiming to keep the manager who has finally secured their return to the Premier League very happy and will pay to do so.
It is believed that according to the London Evening Standard, the Magpies may ask for a fee nearer the £20million mark despite the Cottagers previously hoping to pay £15million.
Yet why should Ashley stop there, Fulham clearly are beyond keen to welcome Mitrovic back to Craven Cottage this summer and given their resources, the Magpies should be pushing their luck even more in order to exploit this.
Therefore the Magpies must demand an even bigger fee than £20million as with the Premier League news boys’ not masking their desire, they can rake in the cash from Mitrovic’s sale.
