Fulham have failed with an £11.5 million bid for Spezia striker M’Bala Nzola while also making an unsuccessful loan offer for Hertha Berlin’s Krzysztof Piatek.
While Scott Parker deserves huge credit for transforming the Cottagers into a competitive Premier League outfit – one that took points off Tottenham and Liverpool before putting the fear of god into table-topping Manchester United – the lack of a reliable goalscorer threatens to undermine all that good work.
No-one in Fulham’s squad has scored more than four, with Aleksandar Mitrovic, the most expensive and high-profile centre-forward at Parker’s disposal, netting twice in 14 matches.
With only a week of the window remaining, reports suggest Fulham have made a new number nine their top priority.
Gazzetta dello Sport claims the Londoners have offered £11.5 million for Nzola, a powerhouse Frenchman who has earned comparisons to Didier Drogba and Romelu Lukaku during a brilliant debut season in Serie A.
Nzola has scored nine times in 13 matches, including a recent winner at Napoli. Gazzetta claims another, unnamed Premier League club, are wiling to offer closer to £14 million.
Piatek, meanwhile, is enduring a miserable season at underperforming Hertha Berlin, missing a penalty in the recent 3-0 defeat to Hoffenheim.
Fulham want the Poland international on loan but, as an unexpected relegation battle looms, Onet claims Hertha have no intention of letting the £21 million Piatek leave on loan.
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