This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict’ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

West Ham United have now joined the race for Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, as per a report from ExWHUemployee. 

The Hammers join  Villarreal with an interest in the 27-year-old, with the Spanish outlet reportedly valuing him at €16 million.

Mitrovic has netted 22 times in the league this season, scoring at a rate of one goal every 83 minutes of Championship action.

 

 

Fulhams' talisman finds himself nine goals short of the Championship record, the one that Ivan Toney set last year during Brentford's promotion-winning season.

Three of our writers here at FLW have shared their thoughts as to whether or not they can see Mitrovic departing in January, and what kind of figure would make Fulham even consider parting company with him...

Toby Wilding 

It feels hard to imagine Mitrovic leaving Craven Cottage anytime soon.

The Serbian is playing in just about the form of life, he looks happy at Fulham, and right now, the Cottagers are well on track for a swift return to the Premier League.

As a result, it wouldn't seem to make much sense for him to leave them in January, especially for a club such as West Ham, where he could be playing second fiddle to Michail Antonio, which the Serb is unlikely to want at this stage of his career.

Given he is contracted to Fulham until the summer of 2026, and the fact that his goals are vital to their hopes of promotion, you can't see the Cottagers being in any mood to let him go in the near future.

With that in mind, the fact that Fulham are in such a strong position to negotiate any offers that come in, you imagine it could take somewhere in the region of £35million-£40million to prise him away from Craven Cottage in January.

Adam Jones

It would be very hard to see Fulham cash in on the Serbian unless they receive an obscene bid for his services.

You can't rule out a potential departure - because they could use the money generated from his possible sale to ensure they stay on the right side of the EFL's financial rules and reinvest in their squad - but they look like so much more of a force with him and that's why he's likely to remain at Craven Cottage.

The striker himself seems to be enjoying life under manager Silva and that's showing in his performances, so a move in January could end up being detrimental to his momentum and with that, his career.

As a man who is clearly settled in west London, he probably knows his best option is to remain at his current side until the end of the season and then reassess his future after that, with the potential chance to play Premier League football at Fulham next season.

In terms of his price tag, Fulham are under no pressure to sell considering his deal doesn't run out until 2026, so they could arguably demand up to £40m for his signature considering his goalscoring form.

Charlie Gregory 

I think for him to leave Fulham would be a huge blow but for West Ham it would be a superb bit of business.

David Moyes has a penchant for dipping into the EFL with West Ham and signing some of the best players - see Jarrod Bowen and Said Benrahma as just two examples.

While they don’t always pay off, under the tutelage of the former Everton boss, they often do. This could be another case of it working wonders for the Hammers, with Mitrovic already experienced in the Premier League and proving to be the single best attacker in the entire Championship this year.

For Fulham though, it would be a huge loss. With the side chasing promotion and with the vast majority of their goals coming from Mitrovic, it would be a massive blow to lose him in January.

They’ll be desperate to hold onto him - and if they can, then that would be a coup within itself.