Fulham have announced their first foray into the summer transfer market with the capture of Mladen Petric on a one-year deal. The striker arrives on a free transfer from SV Hamburg and is re-united with Cottagers boss Martin Jol, having previously worked under the Dutchman for the Bundesliga outfit back in 2008/09.

Petric’s arrival goes some way to addressing the problems up front Fulham currently face. With Andy Johnson joining QPR earlier this month and Pavel Pogrebnyak set to seal a deal with Reading, Jol has been scouring the market to boost his forward dilemma as he looks to improve upon last term’s ninth place finish. Speaking yesterday after completion of the deal, Petric went on to reveal:

I like the Premier League and it has always been one of my wishes to come here. I’m very happy to be part of what is happening at Fulham. The club is doing very well and that was why I decided to come here. I know the manager well and I know that he is always looking to strengthen his attacking options and I hope that we can do even better next season.

The Statistics

Petric moved to Switzerland at an early age and started his professional career in the Swiss league with FC Baden in the summer of 1998. He lasted just a season there, scoring four times in 22 league appearances, before being snapped up by Grasshoppers Zurich as an 18-year-old. The Croatian spent five campaigns with Grasshoppers and began to find the net with greater regularity – over 114 appearances, he notched 30 times before moving within the Swiss league once again, to FC Basel. There, he stayed for three seasons, scoring 38 times in just 72 matches before a tally of 19 goals in the 2006-07 campaign saw Borussia Dortmund come calling.

Despite scoring 13 times in 29 league games in his debut Bundesliga season, Petric’s somewhat nomadic career continued, however, with Dortmund transferring him to Hamburg as part of a swap deal for Mohamed Zidan. Petric’s first campaign under Jol was his most successful at Hamburg in terms of goals, with a tally of 12, in addition to four assists, over 25 league games. The Croatian lasted four campaigns at the Imtech Arena, returning 38 goals and 15 assists in 99 matches before deciding to move to Craven Cottage under freedom of contract.

The Prospects

As mentioned above, the summer departures look set to hand Petric the chance of a regular first-team role at the Cottage for the upcoming season. Crucially, Jol’s previous experience with the Croatian should help – there’s less likely to be an uncomfortable settling-in period similar to the Bryan Ruiz situation last term, where the Costa Rican looked ill-at-ease to begin with.

Fulham’ free-scoring home form in their first season under Jol saw them rack up 36 goals at the Cottage – only three less than Arsenal and Spurs, for example, with the new manager masterminding 10 home wins. While Clint Dempsey hogged the headlines, both Bobby Zamora and Pogrebnyak played their parts with 11 goals and five assists in 26 starts between them over the season. Clearly, then, the potential is there for an established frontman to reap the benefits of a regular role up top for Fulham and Petric, at 6 foot 1, should fits seamlessly into Jol’s side as the target man, with the likes of Dempsey and Ruiz buzzing around him and adding to the attacking potential. The only possible downside is that Jol will surely still add to his frontline options before the end of August, though with Petric able to also play in “the hole” if required, plenty starts look likely.

In a sense, Dempsey’s price tag could be crucial to Petric’s appeal – the American’s exploits last time round could well see his value leap as high as 10.0 in Fantasy Premier League (FPL) and, while there seems little doubt he will prosper again, his cost may deter many suitors as we look for a better balance within our squads. Such a situation may well promote Petric in our thinking, then; a modest price in the region of 6.5 to 7.0 looks likely and, given his previous under Jol in addition to his free-kick ability, he could well be one to watch if the Cottagers replicate their attacking menace over the course of the campaign ahead.

Further Reference

Mladen Petric Wikipedia
More Mladen Petric Stats
Mladen Petric YouTube