With preparations well underway at Fulham for their imminent return to the Championship, manager Scott Parker will be hoping that his side can start afresh following an utterly dismal campaign in the Premier League.

Despite the 38-year-old needing to launch a complete overhaul of his squad between now and August, he may first have to deal with the prospect of one of his star players leaving this summer.

According to Sports Bild (as quoted by Bulinews), Aleksander Mitrovic is reportedly a target for Bayer Leverkusen who are looking to add more firepower ahead of next season.

Whilst Parker will be reluctant to let the Serbian leave, the opportunity to play in the Champions League for Die Werkself may be too big of a temptation for the forward to turn down and so it would not be at all surprising if he tries to force through a move.

Keeping this in mind, here are THREE repercussions that we think could impact Fulham if they do sanction Mitrovic's departure...

They fail to find to find a sufficient replacement

One of the Fulham's only shining lights last season, Mitrovic managed to fire in 11 goals for his side in the top-flight and therefore will be a tough man to replace if he does move on to pastures new.

Given the current state of the market, bringing in a player who has a proven pedigree of delivering the goods at Championship level may require the Cottagers to pay a premium price which owner Shahid Khan may not be willing to do.

If this turns out to be the case, Parker may have to settle for bringing in an individual who does not possess anywhere the levels of talent that Mitrovic has.

Parker ends up struggling in his first full campaign in charge

With the second-tier proving to be daunting for even the most experienced of managers, Parker will need all the help that he can get if he is to prevail in what will be his first ever full season in charge as a manager.

Yet without Mitrovic leading the line, the Fulham boss may end up struggling to keep the club afloat in one of the most competitive leagues in world football.

The club's hopes of promotion are over before they have even begun

Even though the Cottagers should have more than enough quality to stave off the threat of relegation during the upcoming campaign, their hopes of securing an immediate return to the Premier League could be over before they have even begun if they sell Mitrovic.

With the Serbian playing a huge role in helping the club achieve promotion in 2018 via the play-offs by finding the back of the net on 12 occasions in 20 games, his importance to Fulham's cause simply cannot be understated and therefore he would undoubtedly be a huge miss.