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Sheyi Ojo's arrival throws Sone Aluko's future into doubt amid Fulham power struggle between board and manager

Aluko is currently at the centre of a long-running dispute between the Fulham board and the increasingly-frustrated manager Slavisa Jokanovic

Jack Pitt-Brooke
Thursday 17 August 2017 12:58 BST
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Sone Aluko's Fulham future is up in the air
Sone Aluko's Fulham future is up in the air (Getty)

Sone Aluko’s Fulham future has been thrown into further doubt by the arrival of Sheyi Ojo on a season’s long loan from Liverpool.

Aluko is currently at the centre of a long-running dispute between the Fulham board and the increasingly-frustrated manager Slavisa Jokanovic.

While Jokanovic is desperate to keep Aluko at Craven Cottage, saying it would be a “big mistake” to sell him, amid serious interest from Reading, the Fulham board have so far failed to secure Aluko’s future with a new deal. Aluko would either like a new contract or to be sold but has been left in limbo as the club fail to give him either.

To cover the potential departure of Aluko, Fulham have brought in Liverpool youngster Ojo on loan this week. Fulham beat strong competition from Derby County, and earlier this window from Aston Villa, Birmingham City, Newcastle United and Middlesbrough, to land the 20-year-old winger.

Ojo turned down other clubs, including Newcastle, because of concerns over playing time, and he has joined Fulham with the expectation of playing.

It has been a tense summer at Craven Cottage as Jokanovic and the Fulham board have disagreed over the data-driven transfer policy.


Ojo has joined from Liverpool on a season-long loan 

 Ojo has joined from Liverpool on a season-long loan 
 (Liverpool FC)

Jokanovic has felt sidelined over transfers by data head Craig Kline and has considered his future, especially when Premier League vacancies opened up at Southampton and Crystal Palace. But Jokanovic is still in place, and having signed a new contract in February, he is tied to Fulham for another two years. That means Jokanovic would be expensive to get out of Fulham, and for now an uneasy truce holds.

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