Fulham boss outlines Jay Stansfield plan amid Birmingham City and Stoke City interest

The Cottagers have now decided to keep the striker for the foreseeable future, dealing a blow to clubs eager to acquire his services.

Birmingham City have held a strong interest in re-signing Stansfield for the upcoming campaign after he scooped all four individual accolades on loan at Blues last season. Birmingham World understands Chris Davies’ side were patiently waiting for information from Fulham and would have acted if they were given the green light to do so.

It seems that update may have now been given to Blues as Fulham’s manager, Marco Silva, responded to a question on Stansfield earlier this week.

“He’s going to be a player for Fulham, Silva told The Athletic on Wednesday. “Nothing more to say. We can keep receiving approaches but we want to keep him.”

As well as Birmingham, Stoke City were keen on signing Stansfield this summer. Football Insider reported on Sunday that the Potters had opened talks with Fulham over the possibility of bringing the attacker to bet365 Stadium on loan.

Based on Silva’s recent comments, however, Stansfield won’t be heading to either club. The upcoming campaign could be a good opportunity for the 21-year-old to break through properly at Fulham as he’s only made eight senior appearances to date.

Stansfield was a mightily popular figure at Birmingham as he netted 13 goals in 47 appearances across all competitions. He will return to St Andrew’s @ Knighthead Park in some capacity, but only as an opposition player as Blues host Fulham in the Carabao Cup second round.