Fulham are set to beat Everton to the signing of Branislav Ivanovic after sealing their return to the Premier League on Tuesday night, according to B92.
You would imagine that the Cottagers learned plenty of lessons from their last spell in the top flight.
Back in the summer of 2018, Fulham wasted over £100 million on Jean-Michel Seri, Andre Franck Zambo Anguissa, Maxime le Marchand and more en route to finishing 19th in the table.
Flash forward two years however and, after outplaying and outscoring Brentford in the play-off final, the West London outfit appear to have changed their tack.
Instead of once again spending huge sums on players without a scrap of English football experience, Fulham look set to sign a three-time Premier League champion on a free transfer.
B92 in Serbia reports that Carlo Ancelotti is interested in reuniting with his former Chelsea defender Ivanovic at Everton but, after winning at Wembley, Fulham are now the front-runners for the 36-year-old’s signature.
A powerful centre-half rather than a rampaging right-back these days, Ivanovic’s vast experience should prove very useful on and off the pitch at Craven Cottage.
He might be a long way past his best but, as recently as July, Ivanovic captained Zenit St Petersburg to the Russian Premier League title before his contract expired.
“I will probably continue my career at Everton. I received a good offer from them. I will see how things will turn out,” Ivanovic told Republika recently.
It seems, however, that Fulham have now muscled their way into pole position.
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