Marco Silva has confirmed Aleksandar Mitrovic will be leaving Fulham after a deal was agreed with Al Hilal following the 3-0 home loss to Brentford in the Premier League.
The Serbian striker was absent from the squad ahead of his move to the Saudi Pro League and was replaced by summer signing Raul Jimenez, who drew a second straight blank when leading the line.
Silva mentioned Mitrovic forced his way out of the club after it was reported in July the 28-year-old said he would never play for the west London side again if an agreement was not found.
“He is on the way to leave the club,” Silva said.
“I got information from the club after the match, both clubs have got an agreement and now it’s the moment where it is the finish of Mitrovic in our club.
“As you know he forced everything to leave the club, he wanted to leave the club and until the moment that the the board found a financial agreement we kept him at our football club but at the end they reached an agreement and now for us we keep playing without him.
“Football players are human as well, the situation with the market – sometimes they are thinking about other stuff because it was not just Mitrovic in our club (who had interest from other teams) during the last three or four weeks.
“I will talk to him tomorrow and in two days’ time because our relationship is there forever.”
Yoane Wissa’s first-half strike and a Bryan Mbeumo double sealed all three points for Thomas Frank’s men in a dominant display away from home, with Fulham skipper Tim Ream shown a red card.
The Bees boss lauded the strike partnership who have scored five times between them in their opening two games despite the absence of star man Ivan Toney.
Frank said: “I think they are two good players no doubt about that. Bryan has been so good in the four or five years he has been here with us.
“Wissa we knew is a goalscorer and I think he can play winger or nine, he could arguably of got one or two more today.
“It means a lot that in the last two games our strikers have scored five goals and that gives us even more confidence.
“There’s a good understanding between Bryan and Wissa and I think Kevin (Schade) and Keane (Lewis-Potter) are also adding to it.”
Today’s win extended Brentford’s unbeaten run in London derbies to 11 Premier League games and Frank credited the role of their vocal supporters which galvanized his team.
He added: “The supporters were fantastic.
“I am so pleased for them that they got this derby win and this was 100 per cent for the supporters and I hope they have a wonderful evening down the Thames in the pubs.”
Klopp jokes he 'doesn't like Maddison' after failing to block Kompany winner
Jurgen Klopp has joked he doesn't like James Maddison after the midfielder's failure to block Vincent Kompany's long-range winner in the 2018-19 season.
With the title race that campaign nearing its conclusion, Manchester City and Liverpool were going toe-to-toe at the Premier League summit.
City faced Leicester City in their penultimate game, and with the contest 0-0 with 20 minutes left, the ball sat up for Kompany to shoot from range with Maddison in the vicinity.
Maddison failed to block the effort, and Kompany's drive flew into the top corner before City ultimately went on to claim the title.
Klopp has joked that he now feels differently about Maddison following that incident, telling The Redmen TV: "The moment when Vinny Kompany fires the ball, I'm really happy I didn't get a stroke because that's how it must feel.
"I was watching thinking, 'Maddison, block him, close him down!'
"And since then, I don't like Maddison! I was also angry with Brendan [Rodgers, then Leicester manager] that day, because he should have taken him off, he was tired.
"It's a personal thing. Of course, I have no problem."
Al-Ittihad pegged back as winless run rolls on
Mohamed Sherif scored late on as Al-Ittihad's winless run in the Saudi Pro League stretched to four games after a 1-1 draw with Al-Khaleej.
Al-Ittihad have endured a miserable title defence, and with just two games remaining, the highest the big-spending, PIF-backed club can finish is fourth.
Muhannad Al Shanqiti put them ahead on the stroke of half-time, yet despite having a further eight shots and accumulating 1.07 xG in the second half, Al-Ittihad could not add another.
Their profligacy proved costly in the 81st minute, with Egypt international Sherif snatching an equaliser for 11th-placed Al-Khaleej.
Al-Tai moved out of the relegation zone with a surprise 3-1 win over seventh-placed Al-Fateh, with Bernard Mensah scoring twice.
Al-Raed, meanwhile, claimed a 1-0 win at Al-Wehda.
Data Debrief: Kante the creator?
On the day he received a surprising France recall, N'Golo Kante created three chances for Al-Ittihad, leading the team.
On the flip side, Kante only attempted one tackle, with the midfielder showing a different side to his game, not that it proved fruitful for his team.
Ronaldo motivated to keep playing at top level
Cristiano Ronaldo has no intention of stopping as he says he is still motivated to compete with the "young lions" coming through in the game.
Ronaldo is reportedly considering signing a contract extension to keep him at Al-Nassr until June 2026, taking him past his 41st birthday.
The Portugal international has scored 42 goals in 41 appearances for the Saudi Pro League club this season, and he insists he is still motivated to keep going.
Speaking on the Whoop podcast, he said: "I feel proud to have this age and still compete at the highest level. It's great, and it gives me motivation to carry on.
"If you look at my career for the last 20 years, my level is high. If you are top for 20 years, it's unbelievable.
"I do that, and I continue to do that. For me, it's a big achievement."
Ronaldo has scored an incredible 891 goals in his career and is the all-time leading scorer in men’s international football with 128 goals.
"My biggest motivation is to carry on," he added. "It's not easy to be at this level.
"To still push, to still motivate, to carry on, to score goals, to be in good shape, to compete with the young lions that are coming and that when they play against me, they want to show me that they are stronger and faster than me.
"You have to prepare very well, not just physically but mentally, too. This is the challenge.
"Talent without work is nothing and work without talent is nothing. They have to work together at the same time. I have both. I can't say that I have more of one than the other.
"Small details will make the difference. Consistency is the most difficult thing.
"Are you willing to do that? That's the main point, because everyone wants to be Cristiano, but doing it is difficult. Discipline is the most difficult thing."
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