Fulham look to Spaniard to add creative spark to their midfield

Fulham are in the market to beef up their midfield after losing creative talents Moussa Dembele and Clint Dempsey to Tottenham on transfer deadline day.

The Cottagers are priced up at 7/2 to knock over Man City in their next game and have reportedly re-ignited their interest in Spanish under-21 international Raul Garcia, after originally balking at the £7m Atletico Madrid were demanding for his services during the summer.

Martin Jol turned to veteran free-agent Giorgios Karagounis to help inject some class to Fulham’s midfield, with the late exits of Dempsey and Dembele leaving them little time to source an apt replacement.

The former Greek captain is, at 35, obviously only regarded as a very short-term solution and, with the funds raised from those two high-profile sales, Jol is likely to be given money to spend when the January window opens.

This could well see him move for the Atletico schemer, who has often found himself on the sidelines at the Vicente Calderon.
Garcia was loaned back to former club Osasuna last season where he played a pivotal role in helping them achieve a seventh-place finish, missing out on European qualification by a single point.

He made 33 appearances last term, netting 11 goals in the process, four more than in the previous four years he spent at Atletico.

Fulham have started their last two league games with Chris Baird and Steve Sidwell in central midfield berths. Their games are more defensively focussed, lacking the ingenuity to pick a killer ball which Garcia possesses, as well as an eye for goal.

He laid on eight goals in addition to the 11 he netted in La Liga last term and his quality will go a long way to filling the voids vacated by Dempsey and Dembele’s switch from west to north London.

All odds and markets correct as of publication date and time