Player was ‘seduced’ to move to Fulham, but they wanted to pay in installments

 

The weeks following a transfer window always have post-mortems on deals which never happened, and Sergi Enrich to Fulham has been covered extensively in the Spanish media.

The story seems to get more dramatic each time it’s told, and Enrich’s recent brilliant form for Eibar is obviously encouraging coverage of how he almost moved to England.

Mundo Deportivo look at the situation on Tuesday and say Enrich was ‘seduced’ by the idea of signing for Fulham, despite them being a Championship club. Fulham then put €10m ‘on the table’ for Enrich, but wanted to pay it in instalments.

The Spanish club’s response was ‘resounding’, a big defiant Spanish NO.

Having annoyed Eibar, Fulham now had a more difficult task, and the Spanish club insisted any deal would have to see Enrich deposit the clause himself, leading to tax issues which couldn’t be resolved in the time left on deadline day.

The latter part of Mundo Deportivo’s story was confirmed to Sport Witness on deadline by a source close to the possible deal, so perhaps it all stacks up.

If Fulham had been quicker, and not annoyed Eibar by trying to sign their best player for instalments, then Enrich, named in this week’s European Team of the Week by Gazzetta dello Sport, could be theirs.