5 strikers Fulham should target in January including £15m forward and European Golden Shoe contender with 9 goals
Fulham have had a decent season so far under Marco Silva, but bringing in a new striker in January could take the team to the next level.
Raul Jimenez isn’t the best replacement for Aleksandar Mitrovic and despite recent praise from Marco Silva, his red card against Newcastle highlights how short we are in this area.
With Carlos Vinicius potentially on his way this winter and not being up to the standard required, a new signing in this area next month would be ideal.
Rodrigo Muniz has looked promising in the several cameos he’s made but suffered an unfortunate injury just as he was starting to get going.
It will also be interesting to see what Fulham do with Jay Stansfield who has been a victim of a bizarre manager change at Birmingham City with Wayne Rooney really struggling in place of John Eustace.
It’s too early to bring him back to a part of the squad this season, but a loan move elsewhere in the Championship could be beneficial.
Jonas Wind – 24 – VfL Wolfsburg
The first option is Wolfsburg forward Jonas Wind who has already recently been linked to Fulham.
At 24, the Danish international is the perfect age to come to Fulham in January and be the long-term striker option for years to come.
Wind already has nine league goals and four assists in just 15 appearances this season.
He’s outperforming his expected goals but what makes Wind such a good option is his ability to act as a playmaker as well as a central forward.
Wind is in the top 15% of forwards in Europe’s top five leagues for progressive passes, which when you consider how many goals he’s scored this season is a great sign.
FBRef also suggest he’s a very similar profile to Raul Jimenez meaning Marco Silva wouldn’t have to tweak his tactics too much when switching between the two attackers.
Santiago Gimenez – 22 – Feyenoord
There is an awful lot of hype around Santiago Gimenez right now and he’s another striker Fulham have been linked with in January.
His 18 goals in 15 Eredivisie matches is an unbelievable record and even though the Dutch team are still in the Europa League, a move away from the club has to be on the cards sooner rather than later.
The Mexico international is an elite finisher and not only that he has three assists to his name.
Silva might be asking Jimenez to connect with his international to convince him that a move to the Cottage might be the perfect next step in his career.
He’s more than ready to leave the Netherlands now and it’s a case of seeing where he’s going to end up.
Serhou Guirassy – 27 – Stuttgart
Another name that will be familiar to Fulham fans after being proposed as a potential option in the upcoming transfer window is Serhou Guirassy.
Unfortunately, the £15m striker has also been linked with half the Premier League mainly due to his 16 Bundesliga goals this season.
When Jimenez’s goal drought looked like it was going to last indefinitely, Guirassy appeared to be a fantastic option given his brilliant form this season.
It would have been a signing similar to Pavel Pogrebnyak, fixing an obvious problem with an immediate solution.
At 27, Guirassy is playing at his peak right now and ultimately Fulham should probably target a younger striker in January.
But if Fulham’s Premier League rivals decide to look elsewhere, Guirassy could be a bargain.
Akor Adams – 23 – Montpellier
The penultimate player on this list is Akor Adams who at the time of writing hasn’t been linked with a move to the Cottage.
However, the Nigerian forward is on the radar of Premier League rivals West Ham and Fulham would only need to show them a highlights package of our match against the Hammers to convince him to join a different London club.
Adams is one of the leading contenders to win the European Golden Shoe this season, although he has a slight advantage over his competition.
The 23-year-old scored 15 goals for Lillestrom in Norway before making the summer switch to Montpellier where he’s added seven more goals to his tally.
It means the likes of Harry Kane are likely to overtake him eventually, but he’s a young man in fantastic form.
A lethal finisher and fantastic in the air, Adams could be the long-term Mitrovic replacement Silva desires.
Dion Drena Beljo – 21 – Augsburg
The outside shout for the striker role at Fulham is Dion Drena Beljo who according to journalist Florian Plettenberg looks set to be available in January.
Plettenberg says there’s interest from English clubs but it isn’t clear whether Fulham are one of them.
Beljo joined Bundesliga side Augsburg 18 months ago and immediately broke into the starting line-up.
However, this season he’s had to settle for cameos off the bench and only has two goals to his name.
Unlike the other names on this list, he’s not a man in hot form right now but would be an exciting option for the future.
His 10 goal involvements in 16 matches with Osijek before his move to Germany highlights his potential.
While that might not be the most important attribute right now, Fulham have one of the oldest squads in the league and need to find a way to bring down the average age of the group.
Who would you like to see Fulham sign in January to
add some more attacking firepower to the squad?
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