Fulham midfielder Stefan Johansen will turn 30 years of age in January and his current deal at Craven Cottage lasts until 2022.
Earlier this month, the 29-year-old admitted he is search of a last big contract and also discussed the possibility of leaving the English club in January after Scott Parker left the Norway international out of the Cottagers’ Premier League squad this season.
Norway take on Israel, Romania and Russia in the ongoing international break and Lars Lagerbäck has included the Fulham player in his squad for November’s matches.
Johansen started for Fulham U23s in their last league defeat, to Stoke City, after fully recovering from a back injury.
“It’s clear that it’s not an ideal situation. Most people understand that,” he said, as quoted by TV2.
“I’ve had a slight back injury that I had an intervention on last week. But it was quite small, so I got to train fully all last week.
“I find that difficult [playing for U23s]. First and foremost, the U23 match I played was to test a little bit into the match situation after the operation I had. It was basically that.”
The former West Brom loanee cannot feature for the Premier League side until January and he may be forced to settle for minutes with the U23s.
“The plan goes on, if there are further games there [with U23s] and like that [until] December, we will have to see. It’s not something I talk to the manager about. Just level-wise, it’s hard to say,” the player explained.
“As I understand it, there are occasionally experienced players who come down to play themselves better after an injury.”
According to TV2, Johansen will hold talks with Fulham to find a solution in the mid-season transfer window.
“Whether it’s being at Fulham or going somewhere else. You can’t dig yourself down for that reason. It’s just to roll up your sleeves, and then you can figure out the best possible solution when January comes,” he concluded.
It’s the second time in less than two weeks Johansen has talked about the possibility of leaving Fulham in January.
