Big summer awaits Fulham as they look to keep striking pair

Martin Jol can look back on a productive first season at Fulham with the club on the cusp of finishing in the top half of the Premier League for the second campaign running and potentially bettering their final points tally of 12 months ago.

However, even maintaining this position, let alone progressing further towards the top six, will seemingly become a major challenge if two of Fulham’s frontmen move onto pastures new at the end of the season.

Finding a way of convincing Clint Dempsey to sign a new contract looks the biggest issue for Jol, with the American netting 22 goals in all competitions this season.

But Dempsey’s goals have only really been worth an additional nine Premier League points this season, which is less than many may have thought.

Meanwhile, Fulham have lost a higher percentage of games with Dempsey in their team than without him and their win ratio only marginally increases when he can be called upon by a single per cent.

Moussa Dembele is another who may be considering his future away from Craven Cottage and has been linked with a move to Liverpool.

Dembele does offer a creative spark to Fulham, yet this may be at a bigger cost than gain based on the club’s results with him in their line-up.

Fulham have won half of their games without Dembele this season, compared to just 34 per cent with him, while they have lost a whopping 27 per cent more fixtures with him than when he has not featured.

Therefore, if Liverpool or another club were to bid in the region of £10m for Dembele then it seems that they should certainly allow him to leave, especially if they already have an eye on replacements, such as exciting FC Twente winger Nacer Chadli.