Fulham has two potential candidates to replace Marco Silva

Fulham now have two "exceptional" candidates to replace former manager Marco Silva, according to the club's vice-chairman and director of football operations, Tony Khan. Portuguese coach Silva left Craven Cottage earlier this month after five years in charge to join Benfica, where he replaces Jose Mourinho, who has been reappointed head coach at Real Madrid.

Last week, BBC Sport reported that Fulham were in advanced stages of negotiations with Spain coach Alvaro Arbeloa, 43, over the position, while Frank Lampard was also linked. The former England midfielder, 47, led Coventry City back to the Premier League last season after winning the Championship.

Speaking to FFCtv, Khan said Fulham had hoped Silva, 48, would sign a new contract to stay at the club. However, during the search for a successor, the American businessman said: "There are a lot of names mentioned and it's exciting because things are going very well and there have been some great conversations. We have a few people that the board is talking to, very interesting and notable candidates. There have been people that we have been linked with, where it has been said that they are a leading candidate or there is conversation, but the reality is that we have never said talk to them or never even have a conversation at all."

Fulham is also known to have had discussions with Kieran McKenna, who left as coach of Ipswich Town after helping the team gain promotion to the Premier League, citing a desire to have time to rest with his family. "There have been some rumors, but at the same time, we've had a lot of conversations and meetings. We've been actively talking. There are two candidates in particular that we've had a lot of meetings with with management and we really like them, but we're also open to other conversations and talking to more people. We're working on that process right now," Khan said.

Fulham ranked 11th in last season's rankings, just two points shy of qualifying for the European Cup. Arbeloa, a former Liverpool and West Ham defender, took temporary charge of Real Madrid at the end of last season, after replacing Xabi Alonso - who was appointed as Chelsea's new coach - midway through the season. After a successful 13-year playing career at Stamford Bridge, Lampard began his coaching career at Derby before spells at Chelsea, Everton and then Coventry in 2024.