Fulham’s deadline day attempts to sign Sergi Enrich from Eibar were certainly ambitious, but ultimately pointless. As had been reported in Spain on January 31st, Enrich himself looked kindly upon the idea and at one stage the transfer looked possible.
Fulham would pay Enrich’s €10m buyout clause, agree personal terms, with the player getting far more than he does at Eibar, and that would be that.
Eibar insisted that Enrich deposit the clause himself which would have left him liable for a big tax bill. All this can be sorted out without such difficulties, but not when there’s just hours left of the window.
If Fulham had started their assault a week earlier then Enrich could be theirs. And that looks like it would have been a brilliant move. Eibar demolished Valencia 4-0 at the weekend, and Enrich scored 2 goals, making that 4 goals and two assist in his last three matches.
His performance has found him in Gazzetta dello Sport’s European Team of the Week, where he lines up alongside Romelu Lukaku and Radamel Falcao. Meanwhile, Fulham didn’t manage to score against Birmingham City.
Very much the one that got away. But, on the bright side, at least the identifying players part of Fulham’s recruitment is working well.
