Fulham close in on double Premier League swoop amid Spurs ‘bid’ and Everton ‘medical’

Jason Soutar
Fulham are reportedly close to signing Alex Iwobi and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Fulham are reportedly close to signing Alex Iwobi and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

Everton midfielder Alex Iwobi is having a medical at Fulham, while reports suggest the Cottagers have made a bid for Tottenham’s Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.

The Cottagers are desperately searching for a replacement for Joao Palhinha, who has been granted permission to travel to Germany to complete a transfer to Bayern Munich.

The Bundesliga champions are expected to pay between £56-58million for the Portuguese midfielder.

Fulham are reluctant to let Palhinha leave without having a replacement lined up, however.

Hojbjerg and Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay have been very strongly linked with a move to Craven Cottage, though the former will be a lot easier to sign.

Spurs are believed to be listening to offers for the Danish midfielder and it was reported on Friday morning that Fulham have made a £30m bid to take the player off of Ange Postecoglou’s hands.

There are now more reliable reports coming out that Marco Silva’s side have indeed made an offer to sign Hojbjerg from their London rivals, who they knocked out of the Carabao Cup on penalties this week.

Telegraph Sport journalist Jason Burt and The Guardian‘s Jacob Steinberg are both saying an offer has been lodged, with no mention of a fee.

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Fulham are yet to sort out a replacement for Aleksandar Mitrovic following his big-money move to Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Hilal.

They did complete the signing of Raul Jimenez before Mitrovic’s exit, but it is safe to say the Mexican will not be able to provide the goals the Serbian did during his time in west London.

One player they are also close to signing is Everton’s Iwobi. Random one, that.

The Nigerian international joined the Toffees from Arsenal for around £30m in 2019.

This transfer raised many eyebrows when it happened and Iwobi failed to justify the hefty price tag during his first two years at Goodison Park.

He did become a rare bright spot during Frank Lampard’s stint in charge, though.

Despite this, he is having a medical ahead of completing a switch to Fulham, according to reports.

This is according to Sky Sports, who claims the player will cost £22m plus add-ons.

Standard Sport correspondent Nizaar Kinsella has reported that the Cottagers will pay £20m for Iwobi, who is ‘not a Palhinha replacement’.

Kinsella adds that Everton will try to replace Iwobi with Fulham midfielder Harrison Reed, with Wolves also keen.

READ MORE: What every club’s vacant shirt numbers tell us about their deadline day transfer plans