‘Looked like blackmail’ – Club had ‘total agreement’ to sell player to Fulham, then it got messy

Fulham’s desperate search for a central defender during the transfer window saw them linked to endless options around European football.

A lot of the claims felt like more than simply the work of the rumour mill, with talk of several players travelling for medicals with the Premier League club.

Deals collapsed at the last minute, one of which was for Marlon.

Sassuolo were keen on the sale because it would have given them the funds to then move for Empoli’s Samuele Ricci. Gazzetta dello Sport report there was ‘total agreement’ between the Serie A club and Fulham.

Marlon was set to move for €15m and the transfer was so advanced that Barcelona, the defender’s former club, had given their approval. Presumably the Catalan side have some kind of buyback clause.

According to the claims, Fulham then told Sassuolo there’d been a problem with the medical, and to go through with the signing they wanted a discount and to be able to pay the transfer fee over a longer period of time.

For Sassuolo this ‘looked like blackmail’ and they were simply unwilling to reduce the value of the deal.