Fulham to miss out on midfielder target with defender to ‘leave’ for Championship club

Fulham-linked Mateus Uribe is poised to join Al Sadd this summer. The Porto midfielder is set to leave at the end of the season to pursue a new challenge.

According to reporter Fabrizio Romano on Twitter, he has signed a ‘long term’ deal in Qatar. He will join his new club on a free transfer with his contract in Portugal up soon.

Fulham were said to be ‘eyeing’ a move for the 32-year-old along with European pair Atletico Madrid and Lazio in preparation for next term in a report by The Sun. However, they will now have to look elsewhere for reinforcements in midfield now.

Uribe, who is a Colombia international with 54 caps under his belt so far, has been with Porto since 2019. He has made 172 appearances for them in all competitions and has chipped in with 15 goals.

The Medellin-born man started his career in his native country with spells at Deportivo Español, Envigado and Atlético Nacional before moving to Mexico to join America in 2017. He then spent two years in the Liga MX before heading to his current club.

In other Fulham news, left-back Joe Bryan is expected to head out the exit door on a permanent basis. He has spent this campaign out on loan in France with OGC Nice.

The Athletic claim he will ‘leave’ when his contract expires at the end of June and Championship side Bristol City have emerged as the ‘favourites’ to sign him. He moved to Craven Cottage from the Robins back in 2018.

The 29-year-old has since played 119 matches for the Whites and scored twice for them in their play-off final win over Brentford back in August 2020. He has since slipped down the pecking order under Marco Silva and will be allowed to depart.