Jol looks to stiffen up Fulham midfield

Martin Jol hasn't had the best of luck with midfield players this season. Having begun dreaming of playing a midfield three that would surely rank amongst the best in the league in Mahamadou Diarra, Moussa Dembele and Clint Dempsey, Fulham now find themselves playing Steve Sidwell and Chris Baird after the latter two left for Tottenham while Diarra is set to miss a huge chunk of the season due to injury. Solid players Sidwell and Baird may be, but world beaters they are certainly not.

With the transfer window closed, the Sun reports that Jol is set to raid the free market with a move for little known 29-year-old midfielder Mickael Tavares, who he knows well from his spell as Hamburg manager a couple of years ago. Jol has of course had success with a former player already this summer in the signing of Dimitar Berbatov. However, Berbatov once played for Manchester United and Tottenham. Tavares last came to the public eye in an ill-fated loan spell at Middlesbrough two years ago.

We're often told there's great value in the free market. I guess we'll put this down as a "wait and see".

Adam Mazrani

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