Fulham closing in on transfer deal for 19-cap international

Lazio goalkeeper Thomas Strakosha is closing in on a transfer move to Championship winners Fulham, according to Italian publication La Reppublica – via Lazio Press.

The 27-year-old is set to depart the Serie A giants despite the club’s best attempts to try and get the 19-cap Albania international to renew his contract – their failure to do so means he can depart on a free transfer.

And his next destination is all set to be at Craven Cottage as Marco Silva looks to bolster his squad ahead of the 2022-23 Premier League season.

Greek-born Strakosha has spent the entirety of his senior career at Lazio, having moved there in 2012 as a youth player from Panionios.

Strakosha made his debut for Lazio in the 2016-17 season and he was the first-choice stopper at the Stadio Olimpico until the 2020-21 campaign, where Pepe Reina assumed the role of the starting stopper.

Despite taking back his starting spot in the second half of the 2021-22 Serie A season, playing every single minute from the December 5 clash with Sampdoria and keeping seven clean sheets in the process, Strakosha is set to arrive at Fulham to provide competition to Marek Rodak and Paulo Gazzaniga, with official confirmation expected in the near future.

The Verdict

It’s not really been a secret that Fulham were going to strengthen their goalkeeping department this summer – especially when the likes of Nick Pope and Dean Henderson were being touted for moves before promotion was even confirmed.

The club have seemingly honed in on Strakosha though, who provides lots of experience at both club and international level.

He may have spent a lot of time out of Lazio’s team last season, but he’s proven his worth by forcing his way back into the side this season to replace