Mathias Normann missed out on a move to Fulham as FC Rostov showed ‘no interest’ in negotiating a deal for the £20 million midfielder, his agent told Euro Football.
The Cottagers might have started the new Premier League season with four straight losses, but Scott Parker’s struggling side have given themselves a chance of turning things around with a trio of astute, deadline day deals.
Tosin Adarabioyo and Joachim Andersen will be tasked with strengthening a backline that has conceded an average of three-goals-a-game since promotion.
Meanwhile, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, on loan from Chelsea, feels like a real coup of a signing that even the most ambitious Fulham fan probably thought would be beyond them.
While the ten-capped England international made the short trip across West London, however, another box-to-box powerhouse of a midfielder missed out on a move to the already relegation-threatened Cottagers (Mail).
“We were approached by England, but Rostov showed no interest (in selling),” explains Normann’s agent, Louis Bell.
“At the moment, I believe negotiations were interrupted.”
Bell’s comments suggest that Fulham had actually entered talks over a deal for the £20 million-rated Norway international; a man who failed to make a league appearance during two years at Brighton before moving to Russia.
A fearsome ball-winner who loves a tackle (and a yellow card for that matter), Normann could have provided some much-needed bite at the heart of an often toothless Fulham midfield.
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