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Fulham transfer link
Peter Crouch |
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| DOB |
30 Jan 1981 |
| POB |
England |
| Pos. |
striker |
| Club |
Portsmouth |
| Hgt |
6.07 |
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Fulham have signalled that they would be ready to match Peter Crouch's £70,000-a-week wages but there is also interest in the Portsmouth forward from Milan in Serie A.
The England striker is facing the seventh move of his career as the proposed takeover of Portsmouth by the United Arab Emirates property developer Sulaiman al-Fahim appears to stall.
With Glen Johnson already departed to Liverpool and the club under pressure to get the big earners off the payroll, Crouch is valued by Pompey at around £15m.
The stumbling block has been the four-year contract worth £70,000 a week that he signed under very different circumstances at Fratton Park last summer.
However, there is serious interest from Fulham and Sunderland and the possibility that Aston Villa and Tottenham could also be interested, provided both clubs sell players during the summer.
Milan have also registered an interest in Crouch after it appears that, for a second successive summer, they are unlikely to be able to do a deal for Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor.
There is genuine interest from the Milan coach Leonardo – and Crouch has been the subject of attention from Italian clubs before – but the transfer fee and the player's wages are likely to be a major obstacle to any deal.
Fulham's seventh-place finish in the Premier League last season means they have a place in the Europa League – formerly the Uefa Cup – and can be more flexible on wages than before.
Their striking options include Andy Johnson, Bobby Zamora, Eric Nevland and Diomansy Kamara, as well as Eddie Johnson, who is likely to leave this summer.
Andy Johnson and Zamora managed nine Premier League goals between them last season; two fewer than Crouch scored for Portsmouth.