South London striker’s transfer situation likely to be clearer once Fulham’s fate is sealed

Scott Parker reckons that Josh Maja’s future will become clearer once Fulham’s fight to stay in the Premier League is resolved.

The South London-born striker opened his account for the Whites with a double in Sunday’s 2-0 victory at Everton.

Fulham now head into a pivotal run of fixtures – at Burnley tomorrow before hosting bottom club Sheffield United at the weekend. They follow up with a derby at Crystal Palace the following Sunday.

Maja signed on loan from Bordeaux at the end of the last transfer window. The west Londoners can pay £9million to make his stay permanent – although it is not clear if that is dependent on them retaining their top-flight status.

The likes of Ruben Loftus-Cheek (Chelsea) and Joachim Andersen (Lyon) are on season-long stays at Craven Cottage but there is nothing set into those transfers to make them permanent.

Fulham boss Parker said: “I’m not sure with Josh. I think the deal is a bit different there and we do have an option on that. That will come down to where we see that at the football club, and Josh also.

“Josh was certainly someone I liked and that’s why we put that into the deal really. Ifs and buts, I suppose at this moment. The one focus for us is to stay in the division.

“Certainly we’ll cross that bridge nearer the time.”

Fulham are seven points adrift of safety but have a match in hand on 17th-placed Newcastle along with a superior goal difference.

And Parker reckons the quality of their displays in recent weeks has not been what held them back, more the fact they did not take their chances.

“In terms of [needing] a repeat performance, I don’t think that is the issue. It’s about repeating the result. The level of performance has been there. It’s been a big thing that we’ve not been able to put the ball in [the net].

“You can’t get too carried away. You can build on this, what’s now more important is the next game. We sat down before Everton and knew what we faced in front of us and that we need to be very professional and laser focused. Everton is done, we got the result, now the massive challenge is Burnley.”