Fabrizio Romano drops update on Fulham striker hunt after Leeds United test resolve with £32m bid
Fulham are reportedly weighing up a move for PSV Eindhoven forward Ricardo Pepi as Leeds United interest in their own striker, Rodrigo Muniz, intensifies.
Leeds have regularly been linked with interest in Muniz and according to recent reports, firmed that up with an official offer earlier this summer. The Athletic report a bid worth £32million in total was rejected by Fulham although it’s not yet known whether Elland Road chiefs will return with an improved number.
The Evening Standard echoed those claims on Wednesday afternoon, adding Muniz is considered one of Fulham’s most valuable assets and as things stand he is not up for sale. There is, however, an acknowledgement they could receive an offer simply too good to turn down, as happened when they sold Joao Palhinha to Bayern Munich for over £45m last summer.
It remains to be seen if such an offer might come from Elland Road but according to Fabrizio Romano, Fulham have their own striker shortlist and PSV’s Pepi is on it. The 22-year-old American international has attracted plenty of interest following a run of 11 goals in 18 Eredivisie games for the eventual Dutch champions.
According to Romano, Fulham are considering an approach for the striker, who is on their shortlist. Although there is expected to be plenty of competition for the Texas-born frontman, with unnamed clubs from Italy and Spain expected to join the race.
How could that affect Leeds United’s Rodrigo Muniz pursuit?
It’s unclear what a move for Pepi might mean for Muniz’s Fulham career, but it would give manager Marco Silva three genuine first-team No.9s to juggle. The Cottagers confirmed earlier this month Carlos Vinicius would leave at the end of his contract this summer but last season’s 12-goal top-scorer Raul Jimenez has seen a one-year extension option triggered.
Jimenez started 30 of Fulham’s 38 Premier League games last season, with Muniz in his place for the other eight – he still managed to score an impressive eight goals at a rate of one every 121 minutes. But a player of Pepi’s calibre would certainly expect a more central role than his potential predecessor Vinicius, whose three league appearances all came from the bench and totalled just 16 minutes.
And so even if Fulham do plan to keep Muniz on board, the prospect of minutes being further reduced could encourage the 24-year-old to scope out options of first-team football elsewhere. A contract expiring in 2026 would have helped Leeds’ negotiating stance but, as with Jimenez, there is a club option to extend it by a further 12 months.
The only other striker Leeds have been credibly linked with is Beto, who emerged as a possible target via Sky Sports earlier this summer – albeit a move currently looks difficult given he is Everton’s only senior striker contracted beyond this month. Reports of interest in Lecce’s Nikola Krstović emerged earlier this week but the YEP understands he is not on a list of targets at Elland
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