Fulham boss admits it's 'difficult to have control' in the transfer market

Marco Silva admitted it is impossible for a club like Fulham to feel in control in the transfer market once better-resourced clubs start to show interest in their players.

The manager lost last season's top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic to Saudi Arabian side Al Hilal last month, and the final days of the transfer window were dominated by Bayern Munich's pursuit of midfielder Joao Palhinha.

The Bundesliga champions' move for the 28-year-old collapsed on Friday afternoon, owing to Fulham's determination not to lose the player so late in the window despite a significant offer from Bayern.

It has complicated Silva's preparations for the his side's trip to the Etihad to face Manchester City on Saturday, with Palhinha's availability for the game still mired in uncertainty.

The club signed Alex Iwobi from Everton, a player that Silva previously bought when he was the manager at Goodison Park, and picked up Fode Ballo-Toure on loan from Monaco, but the Portuguese boss conceded that doing business this late in the window was far from ideal.

'We knew as a club, all the clubs, knew [the deadline] is [Friday] at 11,' said Silva. 'Everyone knew that. It's up to us to do things early or not, to have control of the situation, even if football is so competitive, the market is so competitive that sometimes it's difficult to have everything under control.'

Of Iwobi's development during the years since the pair last worked together, he added: 'I believe that a player after four or five seasons with more game time, more mature and all that stuff, playing in a club with big pressure every single week should be better, yes.'

It took a penalty from Erling Haaland in the fifth minute of stoppage time for City to defeat Fulham in last season's meeting