Fulham are planning to take action to sign Sevilla’s Kike Salas, after sending their officials to Spain to take a closer look at him earlier this season.
The Premier League side appointed Álvaro Arbeloa as their manager in the summer. He arrived in London after a short spell as Real Madrid head coach.
Fulham made seven signings in the summer, of which Gonzalo García, César Palacios, Manuel Ángel and David Affengruber arrived from Spain.
The London club want to return to La Liga to further strengthen their squad, likely in the winter market.
Fulham already scouted Salas
On September 10th, Sport Witness covered a report from Spain explaining that Fulham scouted the defender. Arsenal also had their scout to monitor his club teammate, Lucien Agoumé.
The Premier League side endured a difficult start to the season, failing to win their first six league matches. They secured a narrow 1-0 win over both Hull City and Coventry City in the last two Premier League fixtures. This has seen them climb to 15th place.
Vamos Mi Sevilla FC states Álvaro Arbeloa has requested a ‘strong, left-footed player with leadership qualities to solve the defensive problems that plagued the team at the start of the league season’.
The English club are willing to fulfil his request by signing a centre-back and this is where Kike Salas comes into the picture.
| Every Fulham signing 26/27 | Previous Club | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Gonzalo García | Real Madrid | £34.2m |
| Shea Charles | Southampton | £24m |
| David Affengruber | Elche | £10.3m |
| César Palacios | Real Madrid | £8.5m |
| Jonah Kusi-Asare | Bayern Munich | £5.2m |
| Manuel Ángel | Real Madrid | £3m |
| Hugo Larsson | Eintracht Frankfurt | Loan |
Fulham’s plan to sign Spaniard
The report’s title says Álvaro Arbeloa’s side will ‘tempt with a multi-million’ offer. Within the report, there’s no mention of the fee they are willing to propose.
Kike Salas graduated from Sevilla’s youth system and made his first team debut in 2022. He had a loan spell with Tenerife in 2023. The Spaniard made 107 appearances for the La Liga side and eight are from this season.
He has a contract until 2029, and Transfermarkt value him at €14m. The outlet adds Salas has a €50m release clause while Sevilla value him at €30m for January, which should be affordable for Fulham.
Although the London club will tempt him, the operation won’t be easy because the player has no desire to leave. This would make it complicated for Fulham to sign him in the winter market.
Sevilla would have to make a decision if Fulham table a tempting offer for the central defender.
