Damien Duff has been signed by Fulham for a measly £4 million from Newcastle. Duff, who pledged to stay with the Magpies despite their relegation, was most likely transferred due to a reported £60,000-per-week contract that he had running with Newcastle. His move to Fulham sees him back in top-flight football, with an opportunity once again to gain the form he once had when he warranted a £17 million transfer fee from Chelsea.

For Fulham, this move is either feast or famine, yet with such a moderate transfer fee, it really won’t hurt as much if Duff’s injury troubles return. At 30, he is no longer the young and spritely winger that set the league alight with his streaking runs and fancy footwork, but the frame that contained that young man still exists beneath. Should he find even half of that form again, which he pretty much failed to do at Newcastle, Fulham will have a midfield force to reckon with, not to mention a player that can provide excellent service to Zamora and Nevland (Johnson doesn’t count, he’s there to win penalties).

Zamora, who only scored twice in league last term, needed a service player, and Duff is exactly the man to provide it. While Dempsey is dangerous, he is much more a scoring threat than a crossing threat, and with Danny Murphy holding down the middle it’s hard to imagine Fulham struggling too much this season with a healthy Duff.
Potential lineup for the Cottagers might look like this:

----------------------Schwarzer-------------------------
----Pantsil--Hangeland--Hughes--Konchesky----
--Dempsey/Gera--Murphy--Riise/Etuhu--Duff/Dempsey--
-----------------Zamora-------Johnson---------------

Not too bad for a team that used to rely on set plays and grinding out results.