Ranieri not ruling out Cahill deal and will allow Fosu-Mensah to go
Claudio Ranieri is not ruling out signing Gary Cahill and, with concerns surrounding Alfie Mawson’s fitness, he insists Fulham are “ready” to spend.
He has also revealed he would understand if loanee Timothy Fosu-Mensah was to return to parent club Manchester United – potentially creating room for Cahill’s arrival.
Mawson has started rehabilitation on the knee injury that Ranieri fears means he will be out for “a while”, and with Cahill out of favour at Chelsea, Fulham are keen to take him to Craven Cottage, as revealed by West London Sport last month.
Despite spending in excess of £100million in the summer transfer window, Fulham have fallen into the Premier League’s bottom three which saw Slavisa Jokanovic sacked and the appointment of Ranieri.
Further investment is expected in an attempt to secure survival, and asked about Cahill, Fulham’s manager joked: “A lot of names are coming here – in Italy, in France, everywhere.
“If there will be some opportunities, the club is ready – that’s the maximum I can tell you. I’m expecting.
“If United want (Fosu-Mensah) he can go because with me he does not play often and I understand he is young and he needs to play.
“It’s difficult to say how long (Mawson will be absent) but it is important he recovers well. When something happens we have to stay calm and I prefer if the player is ready and 100 per cent.”
On Sunday, Fulham host League Two Oldham in the third round of the FA Cup, when Mawson is expected to be their only absentee.
Ranieri is regardless expected to make changes to a team that continues to show signs of improvement, following seven fixtures in December where they demonstrated moments of fatigue.
“I will give a chance to some players who aren’t used to playing every match and I want to give them a very good opportunity to show their qualities to me and also in front of our supporters,” Ranieri said.
“In (Oldham’s) last two matches they have won and they changed their coach and then they have everything to win and nothing to lose and vice-versa; we have everything to lose and nothing to win.”
