Fulham poised to make Martin move permanent

Fulham are set to turn Chris Martin’s loan move from Derby County into a permanent deal by activating a clause in the previous transfer deal that allows them to sign the Scotland international for around £9m, according to the Daily Record.

Slavisa Jokanovic is keen to boost Fulham’s promotion push by converting Martin’s loan into a full-time deal as soon as possible, although it remains to be seen whether this will be during the upcoming January window or in the summer. Martin has enjoyed a successful loan spell after slow start at Craven Cottage, scoring six goals in 14 appearances. He added two well-taken goals in Saturday’s 5-0 thrashing of promotion contenders Reading.

The Fulham head coach had spoken of his desire to keep Martin around in the run up to that game:

I’s not in my hands. My opinion is we need to sign a permanent deal with him. This is my opinion. It’s a decision that is in the hands of the club. He’s a target man and we need to connect with him. He scored the goals, he was our platform player. Apart from the goals he did very good work and pressed the opposition defenders very well. Credit to him, he’s an experienced player and his numbers in the past show us that he can be a very important player for us. He’s our top scorer and we have to believe in him.

Jokanovic will also be seeking to supplement his striking resources in the new year as Fulham currently only have Matt Smith and Cauley Woodrow as senior strikes to rival Martin for a spot in the first team.