Chelsea defender Tomas Kalas helped Fulham earn promotion to the Premier League in May but has since moved on from Craven Cottage.
Tomas Kalas was one of the unsung heroes as Fulham ended their absence from the Premier League in May.
The giant Czech centre-back played 33 games as Slavisa Jokanovic’s side sealed their place in the play-offs, eventually securing promotion by beating Aston Villa 1-0 at Wembley. So a permanent move to Craven Cottage seemed like something of an inevitability.
According to Sky Sports, Fulham had the option to sign the Chelsea-owned Kalas for £8.5 million. But they were not willing to pay such a fee – meaning the 25-year-old was denied the chance to finally settle down and call Craven Cottage home.
And, speaking to West London Sport, Kalas has admitted that he struggled to deal with being rejected by Fulham after two impressive loan spells.
“If they’d wanted me at Fulham, I would have stayed, but they didn’t,” Kalas, who is now on loan at Bristol City, told West London Sport.
“It was difficult to swallow. But obviously that’s not the end of my career, and I’d rather get promoted with a team that wants me. It would be quite nice to settle down after eight years of being abroad, but not spending longer than two years at one place.
“I was so loyal to Fulham. They knew I wanted to stay and nothing happened. They spent, I don’t know how much money, on new defenders.”
Kalas makes an intriguing point. The Premier League newcomers spent a huge fee on Alfie Mawson and also signed Calum Chambers and Maxime Le Marchand from Arsenal and Nice respectively.
But, in the absence of Kalas, Fulham have won just one out of 10 top flight games and have conceded a remarkable 28 goals so far with their defence proving to be a very obvious Achilles heel.
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