According to Mike Whalley at the Manchester Evening News, Fulham manager Mark Hughes is interested in signing Manchester City players Roque Santa Cruz, Stephen Ireland, and Craig Bellamy.

Hughes was responsible for signing strikers Santa Cruz and Bellamy while he was at Manchester City.

UPDATE: According to Sky Sports News, Fulham have jumped ahead of Liverpool as the favorites to sign Aston Villa defender Luke Young.

It is reported that the deal with Liverpool fell apart after Young revealed that he does not want to move to Liverpool.

July 28th, 2010 According to ESPN Soccernet, Liverpool have agreed to a deal worth around £2.5million for Aston Villa defender Luke Young. The 31-year-old is reportedly considering whether he wants to make the move to Liverpool.

UPDATE: According to Fulham’s official website, Fulham have signed manager Mark Hughes to a two-year deal.

July 29th, 2010: According to Jacob Murtagh at the Fulham and Hammersmith Chronicle, inside sources have confirmed that Mark Hughes will be the next manager of Fulham. The deal is reported to be a one-year rolling contract.

July 28th, 2010 According to Matt Law at the Express, Mark Hughes is expected to become the new coach at Fulham. It is reported that the deal will be officially announced within the next 24 hours. Hughes will earn £2 million-a-year salary plus bonuses.

According to Dave Kidd at The People, Fulham are going to talk to former Bayern Munich manager Jurgen Klinsmann to see if he is interested in the open managerial position.

It is also reported that Fulham are willing to offer £2million in wages and give the new manager a £20million transfer kitty.

According to Alex Montgomery at the Daily Mail, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger turned down the chance to sign 39-year-old free agent goalkeeper David James.

It is reported that Arsenal will continue to pursue Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.

According to Mark Fleming at the Independent, Fulham are interested in signing Cardiff City manager Dave Jones after failing to sign Ajax manager Martin Jol. J

Jones led Cardiff City to the Championship League play-off final last year before losing to Blackpool.

According to The Independent, Fulham have not made any contact with manager Sven Goran Eriksson. His agent Athole Still told Radio Five Live,

“It’s a very attractive club, not just for Sven-Goran Eriksson … (There has been) no contact whatsoever … We’ve know for several weeks that Sven was one of the managers under consideration for the job … (There has been) no interview, no discussion whatsoever.”

UPDATE: According to Ajax’s official website, Ajax manager Martin Jol will be staying with the club. Jol said,

“Ajax made it clear immediately that they didn’t want to let me go. On top of that, I really don’t feel like I can leave Ajax right now. I came here last summer to be successful, to build a strong team, and to enjoy myself. And those three elements remain important for the coming season. That’s what I discussed last weekend in Portugal, and again at length in Amsterdam during the last few days.”

July 20th, 2010: According to the Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle, Martin Jol might turn down a move to Fulham. Jol told De Telegraaf,

“They (Fulham) were interested but in principle I will stay at Ajax.”

July 15th, 2010 According to Jacob Murtagh at the Fulham & Hammersmith Chronicle, Ajax manager Martin Jol is expected to sign with Fulham in the next 48 hours. It is reported that Jol will accept a rolling contract as well as a pay raise from his current job.

UPDATE: According to the Express and Star, Tottenham striker Robbie Keane has been allowed to begin talks with Aston Villa. It is also reported that Fulham are interested in the 30-year-old.

July 2nd, 2010 According to Mathew Kendrick at the Birmingham Mail, Tottenham striker Robbie Keane would not mind making a move to Aston Villa if a deal is worked out. However a deal will probably not happen unless Tottenham lowers their asking price below £10million.

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UPDATE: According to West Ham United’s official website, West Ham United have signed Lyon striker Frederic Piquionne for an undisclosed fee. Piquionne signed a three-year deal with the club.

July 16th, 2010: According to Sky Sports News, Frederic Piquionne is undergoing a medical with West Ham United and is expected to sign a three-year deal.

July 5th, 2010: According to ESPN Soccernet, West Ham United are on the verge of signing Frederic Piquionne and the deal could be completed as early as today.

July 1st, 2010 According to the Express & Star, West Bromwich are not interested in signing striker Frederic Piquionne anymore. This leaves West Ham, Blackburn, and Fulham as the Premier League teams still in the race.

June 30th, 2010 According to Sky Sports News, West Ham United are planning to step up their efforts to sign Piquionne as Avram Grant is greatly interested in his former Portsmouth striker.

Also, Andy Cryer at the Lancashire Telegraph is reporting that Blackburn are set to jump in the mix.

June 28th, 2010 According to Sky Sports News, West Bromwich have joined the race to sign Lyon striker Frederic Piquionne, who played on loan at Portsmouth last season.

Fulham and West Ham United are also interested in the 31-year-old, who reportedly costs only €1million.

According to Paul Warburton at the Fulham and Hammersmith Chronicle, Fulham defender Brede Hangeland, who has been linked with Liverpool, admitted that he is staying at the club. Hangeland said,

“There’s always speculation about players moving to clubs, and I would be lying if I didn’t say I prefer it when people think I’ve done better than the opposite … But the more years I play, the more I learn to ignore speculation and keep my head down.

“I’m confident I’m good enough to play under another manager … If we hadn’t been in Europe last season – I think we would have finished higher, and we can put more focus on the league and go even higher this time … I’d love to see all the players stay – and even one or two more coming in – and then we’ll look even stronger.”

According to the London Evening Standard, manager Sven Goran Eriksson might stay with the Ivory Coast instead of signing with Fulham. Eriksson told SVT,

“They (Ivory Coast) were really pleased (with the team’s efforts in the World Cup) and I guess that I can stay on if I want to. If so, it will be for four years until the next World Cup finals … I’ll make up my mind in a week or so. I have to do it soon since there are friendlies in August and qualifications for the Africa Cup of Nations in September and October.”

Who will Fulham sign to be there next manager after Roy Hodgson signed with Liverpool? MirrorFootball wrote an interesting article today that names all the possible candidates and gives a brief bio of each. I felt this was an interesting article for all you Fulham fans out there.

According to ESPN Soccernet, Fulham have yet to hold formal talks with managers Sven-Goran Eriksson, Mark Hughes, and Alan Curbishley.

It is also reported that managers Bob Bradley, Slaven Bilic, and Stuart Baxter are also possibilities for the Fulham managerial position.

According to Martin Rogers at Yahoo Sports, AC Milan are considering making a formal bid for Fulham footballer Clint Dempsey. A Milan source who is close to the board said,

“[Dempsey] brings a lot of action and energy but he can be creative too … There are some options on the table but Dempsey is a realistic one. A bid is very possible, and soon.”

It is reported that Dempsey could cost around $12million.

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According to Huddersfield Town’s official website, Huddersfield Town manager Lee Clark denied any contact with Fulham about the open manager position. Clark said,

“I’ve spoken to Dean Hoyle, the Chairman, this morning and he has had no contact from Fulham, our Chief Executive Nigel Clibbens has had no contact from Fulham and I have had no contact from Fulham.”

“Most of the time I don’t comment on speculation, but there has been absolutely no contact from Fulham and I don’t want people to become unsettled.

“It came as a genuine surprise to me when I saw the story on television this morning, but I take the same attitude towards it that I do when our players get linked with clubs from a higher division - it’s a good sign that these clubs are interested because it means that we are doing things right here.”

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UPDATE: According to the Birmingham Mail, West Bromwich boss Roberto Di Matteo will not be able to use the funds generated from the Jonathan Greening deal as those funds “had already been accounted for.”

July 1st, 2010 According to Fulham’s official website, Fulham have permanently signed midfielder Jonathan Greening to a permanent two-year deal. Greening played for Fulham last year on a season-long loan from West Bromwich Albion.

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UPDATE: According to Andy Walker at the Birmingham Mail, Birmingham made the bid of around £6million but it was rejected.

June 30th, 2010 According to the Express & Star, Birmingham are planning to make a £6million bid for 29-year-old Fulham striker Bobby Zamora. It is also reported that Birmingham are willing to offer Zamora a four-year deal worth around £50,000-per week.

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UPDATE: According to Liverpool’s official website, Liverpool have completed the signing of manager Roy Hodgson. Click on the link above to read Hodgson’s first interview as manager of the club.

June 29th, 2010 According to John Edwards and Simon Cass at the Daily Mail, Liverpool have completed the signing of manager Roy Hodgson and plan to make it official today. It is reported that Liverpool have signed Hodgson to a two-year deal worth £3million a year and will pay Fulham £2.5million in compensation.

June 25th, 2010 According to ESPN Soccernet, Liverpool are “on the brink” of signing manager Roy Hodgson. It is also reported that Sven Goran Eriksson is the favorite to replace Hodgson at Fulham.

June 23rd, 2010 According to David Maddock at MirrorFootball, Liverpool are hoping to sign Fulham manager Roy Hodgson within the next 48 hours.

Talks between Hodgson and Liverpool were delayed due to Hodgson being at the World Cup. However Hodgson is set to fly back to England soon.

According to Andy Walker at the Birmingham Mail, Birmingham are searching for a left-back but Heart’s defender Lee Wallace is not on their wish-list. It is reported that the player they are interested in the most is Fulham defender Paul Konchesky. However any move for a Fulham player is on hold due to their manager situation.