Bad news for Benitez - Aleksandar Mitrovic's move to Fulham suddenly in serious doubt?

Some worrying news has emerged today, with reports from London and the North East both suggesting that Aleksandar Mitrovic's proposed move to Fulham is now in serious doubt - with the Cottagers 'considering other options' after failing to agree a fee as of yet.

As confirmed by The Chronicle, Mitrovic does not have a future under Rafa Benitez and has agreed terms with the West London club, but they are now said to be looking elsewhere.

Fulham have reportedly bid £26million for Willian Jose and the Real Sociedad star is keen on the move to England, a striker Newcastle have been linked with in the past but like always were priced out.

With his sale seeming so important to our hopes of signing a quality replacement and the man himself set to return on Tyneside within the next 48 hours, we could really do with this one being done.

Were the sale of Mitrovic to collapse it would be a devastating blow for Benitez - who knows he must 'sell to buy' this summer.

Does a hold up on the Mitrovic deal explain why we're yet to pay Rondon's release clause? It's such an important position for us to fill but the longer it takes for him to be sold, the less likely we are to find a suitable replacement.

Also, Newcastle are likely to get the highest fee from Fulham as he effectively spear headed them to the Premier League and they may be happy to pay the premium.

If they go elsewhere we may be stuck with Mitrovic (who Rafa doesn’t want) and we are forced to abandon a new striker or look at even cheaper alternatives - which would be a total repeat of last summer (something Benitez will have been determined to avoid!)

Let’s hope it’s some brinkmanship and we see some positive progress on in goings and outgoings this week.