Mark Hughes will be announced as Fulham’s new manager within the
next 24 hours after last night accepting club owner Mohamed Al
Fayed’s offer to replace Roy Hodgson at Craven Cottage.
Sportsmail revealed on
Saturday how, after initial contact, Hughes had re-emerged as the
leading contender following Fulham’s failure to lure Ajax manager
Martin Jol to west London.
Following further talks with Al Fayed on Tuesday evening, Hughes
spent yesterday mulling over Fulham’s offer before delivering the
answer they had been anxiously waiting for.
The Welshman, who has been out of work since being sacked by
Manchester City in December, will be handed the same
£2million-a-year salary that was offered to Jol and can expect a
transfer kitty in the region of £20m.
Back in business: Mark Hughes will be appointed
Fulham manager in the next 24 hours
His appointment represents a considerable coup for Fulham,
especially after the disappointment of failing to land Jol,
given that just two years ago he was entrusted with the task of
turning City into a top-four outfit and was handed a multi-million
pound budget to achieve that aim.
And, although the funds on offer at Fulham are extremely modest
by comparison,
Hughes still faces a tough task to improve on the achievements of
Hodgson last season after he guided the club to a comfortable
12-placed finish in the league and
the Europa League final.
It had been reported that the number of backroom staff that
Hughes would want to bring to Craven Cottage could prove to be a
stumbling block.
Swift turnaround: After Martin Jol (right) opted to
stay at jax, Fulham moved quickly to approach the out-of-work
Hughes
But sources close to the 46-year-old insist that he is ready to
make concessions on that front even though he is highly likely to
want to bring in assistant Mark Bowen, who has been by his side
during his time with Wales, Blackburn and City.
Fulham, however, are determined to retain the services of Ray
Lewington, who has been acting as caretaker manager.
Hughes is understood to have pondered long and hard whether
Hodgson’s spectacular achievements of last season had seen Fulham
advance as far as they could go. In addition, Hughes has given
plenty of consideration to the subject of disrupting his family’s
settled life in Cheshire in favour of a move to the capital.
Spectacular season: Under the guidance of Hodgson
(right), Fulham fell to Atletico Madrid in the Europa League
final
However, the Welshman clearly feels that, with Al Fayed’s
backing, he can build on the success of the previous campaign.
Despite Sven Goran Eriksson being consistently linked with the
post, the former England manager was never approached by Fulham,
while other candidates such as
Ottmar Hitzfeld and Alan Curbishley were also discounted.
Hughes had been linked with the Aston Villa job as speculation
grew over Martin O’Neill’s future, a situation which prompted him
to reject the chance to replace Gianfranco Zola at West Ham.
But with the start of the Premier League season less than three
weeks away, the timing is perfect for both Hughes and Fulham.