Scott Parker was happy to see Fulham bolster their striking options on transfer deadline day.
Our former Academy graduate Josh Maja arrived on loan from Bordeaux, adding another number nine to Parker's squad.
“I’m certainly very pleased with the signing of Josh,” he said in his press conference on Tuesday. “I think he probably falls into the line of the sort of business we’ve done this year in terms of young talent with big potential, someone we can develop.
“He’s a very good finisher, and I think it was clear that we needed to try and strengthen in that area. We’ve got Aleks [Mitrović] in our squad, but he’s our only real recognised centre-forward, so I’m very pleased.
“Hopefully Josh comes in and we can really push him on. He scored a lot of goals at Sunderland, and that’s the main thing.”
When asked how soon he expects Maja to be able to make an impact, Parker replied: “It’s a good question and it’s not one I can probably answer as Josh is not here at the moment. He comes in today.
“He’s not played over the course of the last three or four games, so in that sense physically we need to see where he is.
“Adaptability-wise, Josh was here as a young boy, he’s played in English football, so I don’t see that as an issue, it’s more just where he is physically, so we’ll have to judge that when we see him.”
The Club also pursued a move for AFC Bournemouth forward Josh King, but Parker is satisfied with the players available to him after the Norwegian chose a move elsewhere.
“We tried to do some other bits, Josh King was getting documented,” he stated. “We tried and we pushed but competing with Everton was a challenge and he decided to go there, and that was that.
“We were trying for both players, we got one, and we’ve got a squad here now which I’m more than happy with.”
Deadline day also saw a trio of players head out on loan, with Aboubakar Kamara, Neeskens Kebano and Maxime Le Marchand moving to Dijon, Middlesbrough, and Antwerp, respectively.
“They’ve just not played a lot of football at the moment,” Parker explained. “I can’t offer them guaranteed football, and the best thing for them, and the best thing for the dynamics of the squad at this moment in time, is for those players to go and get some football.”
