Fulham sell one of their stars. Hint: It's not Dempsey

"I know! Alex is sooooooo pissed!"

Via ESPNFC-Fulham boss Martin Jol has revealed that the club have accepted a bid from Tottenham for playmaker Moussa Dembele, believed to be in the region of £15 million.

Manchester United attempted to sign the Belgium international earlier this summer, but their £5 million offer was viewed as derisory by the Cottagers, who were holding out for three times that amount - indeed some suggestions are that Dembele had a release clause in his contract set at £15 million.

Dembele's performance in his team's 3-2 defeat at Old Trafford illustrated why Sir Alex Ferguson is among his admirers and with the midfielder's contract not due to expire until 2014 - Fulham have an option to automatically extend in 2013 - Martin Jol is under no pressure to sell on the cheap.

Indeed, with Spurs looking to spend some of their £27 million received up front for Luka Modric, they have now turned to the 25-year-old midfielder and just need to agree personal terms on the deal after having a bid accepted.

Jol told BBC 5Live on Tuesday night that the player would be undergoing a medical at Tottenham and a Fulham source told ESPN: "A fee was agreed yesterday for the sale of Moussa to Tottenham."

Meanwhile, Fulham have turned to Kieran Richardson from Sunderland to fill the void and have had a bid accepted by the North East club.

Richardson was not included in the 18 for Tuesday's Capital One Cup second-round victory over Morecambe, and manager Martin O'Neill revealed the reason afterwards.

He said: "A club has made an offer for him today and we, as a club, have accepted that, and it gives Kieran the opportunity to find out for himself. If it doesn't materialise and he comes back, I'll still be pleased, but it's a position we might have to go and have a look at.

O'Neill has already been linked with a series of replacements, and he confirmed he would look to make progress on that front if a deal was to go through. He said: "It is something, if Kieran does go, that we would have to look at.''



Photo: Jeff Zelevansky