(Reuters) – Fulham’s Aleksandar Mitrovic will not play in their pre-season friendly against Brentford as the Serb is not training properly, manager Marco Silva said after the London club reportedly rejected a bid for the striker from Saudi side Al Hilal.
British media reported that Fulham rejected a 25 million pound ($32.14 million) bid for the 28-year-old, who has three years left on his contract.
Mitrovic has been Fulham’s top scorer in four of their last five seasons, netting 14 Premier League goals in the 2022-23 campaign to guide them to 10th spot.
Silva said he had already spoken to Mitrovic but the matter was out of his hands.
“It’s not the ideal situation, I have to tell you. Not because he received an offer, it’s the situation about himself,” Silva told reporters ahead of Sunday’s game in Philadelphia.
“As you know, he’s not going to play tomorrow, he didn’t play last Wednesday. He’s not working properly with his team mates and when I say this is not the ideal scenario, this is the situation.
“When it’s out of my control as a manager, this is not something that concerns me, but I would like to have a different scenario in that situation … Sometimes you have individual decisions that is for them to take care of.”
Silva also revealed he, too, had received an offer from Saudi side Al Ahli but declined to talk about his situation.
“My commitment for the club is clear and it will continue,” he said. “I have shown my commitment to this club last season so many times.”
($1 = 0.7779 pounds)
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; editing by Robert Birsel)
