Do Fulham need to sign a striker in the summer?

While we still have a few months left of the season it’s always good to plan ahead (well unless your surname is Khan) and look at one of the areas that around two months ago Fulham fans would’ve nailed on to improve when the transfer window comes around. But given the sudden spike in Rodrigo Muniz’s form it begs the question; do we still need to recruit there? I’ll have a look at all of our options and come to a conclusion in this article.

A resurgent Rodrigo

There isn’t anyone that I am more delighted to have found his feet than Rodrigo Muniz, Fulham’s very own Golden Retriever who is adored by all for his Samba moves and overall exuberant personality. But he’s now backing it up on the pitch with seven goals in as many games, but is this just a purple patch? While the answer is unknown, I would lean more towards no. It’s not like Muniz is just finding himself at the back post with a simple tap-in, he’s showing real ‘number nine’ qualities. His ability to hold up the ball, bring others into play and just overall be a nuisance is showing Marco that he could be the long-term solution to our problems.

Then you’ve got our other options. Prior to injury, Raul Jimenez also found a little bit of form with goals against Nottingham Forest, West Ham, Aston Villa as well as a brilliant performance against Arsenal. While he’s not getting any younger, he’s a good option for Marco Silva to have off the bench providing Premier League experience while also being a profile of striker that Silva likes.

I can’t really comment on Broja because the Albanian forward joined the club just as Muniz decided to become the next R9. Similarly, to Jimenez he’s a decent option off the bench for us who I’m sure will get his chance at some point this season. Long-term, I can’t see us going back in for Broja in the summer unless Chelsea are willing to drop his price tag drastically (which wouldn’t shock me given they probably need to sell players).

Returning from loan

We’ve got a few attacking players out on loan but there are only really two who would be in contention to play for us next season. The first of those is Carlos Vinicius and I’ll get this one out the way quickly: he’s been alright since going to Turkey but I cannot envisage him being at the club past the summer. Thanks for Chelsea at home, but it’s time to say goodbye.

The name that I’m sure will be on everyone’s mind is Jay Stansfield who’s currently on loan at Birmingham City. At the time of writing, ‘Stanno’ has nine goals in 35 appearances for the club and has impressed Birmingham fans, but will he come straight back and play? I’m not entirely sure if I’m being honest. Marco Silva loves a certain type of striker and Stansfield doesn’t fit that mould; he’s more likely to feature out wide akin to his Premier League debut against Brentford last season.

The conclusion

This whole article is pretty dependant on Muniz in all honesty. If Rodrigo doesn’t score another goal between now and the end of the season, Fulham will probably need to look for a long-term solution. I can’t see that happening and I think Muniz has all the tools to be Fulham’s number nine. That being said, under the assumption that Muniz ends the season well, Fulham will probably still need one more striker. Silva likes to have three options who are all quite similar, assuming we don’t sign Broja and Vinicius goes, Fulham will need to dip into the market but will probably look for a stop-gap option off the bench.