Fulham vice chairman and director of football operations Tony Khan has revealed that there are two leading candidates for the club’s vacant managerial role.
Fulham have been on the hunt for a new manager since Marco Silva decided to leave the club upon the expiry of his contract at the start of June.
In that time, several names have been linked with the job, including former Real Madrid interim boss Alvaro Arbeloa.
Reports had suggested that Arbeloa was closing in on taking over at Craven Cottage, but Khan says there are still a number of candidates in contention, with two names particularly standing out to the board.
Speaking to the club’s in-house media, Khan said the board had met several times with the two leading candidates, while admitting that Silva’s departure came as a surprise.
“We have to bring in a new coach, it’s something we’re working on & we’ve been actively talking & working to find someone to come in. The expectation here for a while was that Marco was going to stay,” Khan said.
“There’s been a lot of names mentioned in the press & it’s interesting because it’s going very well & there’s been a few great conversations in particular. We’ve got a few people the board is talking to that are very exciting & interesting candidates.
“I have seen a lot of the press. There’s been people who we’ve been linked to where it says they were the frontrunner or that there was conversations, that were people we’ve never talked to or never even had a conversation about.
“At the same time, we have had lots of conversations, meetings. We’ve been actively talking. Now, there’s agents we’ve communicated with, we knew the availability of people, people have expressed interest.
“In particular, there are two candidates that have met with the board several times & we have a few candidates that we’ve had good conversations with.”
Khan did not confirm or deny whether Arbeloa was among the leading candidates for the role, but said that any protracted transfer plans would come after the club had finalised a managerial appointment.
“In terms of the team, we absolutely have a lot of work to do. I think it’s very important to make the hire for who’s going to be the head coach before we figure out who comes in for potential transfers.
“At the same time, it’s important to talk with these candidates about their expectations & what we think of the squad, & what they think of the squad & then take their feedback & ideas & then incorporate that into the window.”
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