Fulham’s main focus will be trying to earn promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt this season.
And as it stands, Marco Silva’s side are currently top of the Championship and nine points ahead of Bournemouth who do have a game in hand. Impressively they are 14 points ahead of third spot and will already have an eye on playing top flight football next season.
With that in mind, we take a look at three positions Fulham must look to bolster in the summer…
Left-back
Arguably having two of the best left-backs in the league in Antonee Robinson and Joe Bryan, some would say that they have disappointed this season and it could be an area that Silva wants to address in the summer.
Both Robinson and Bryan have had a shot at the Premier League before with the latter having two seasons in the top flight, but defensively they have disappointed. Robinson has not been at his best this season and has been at fault for a couple of goals, most recently Callum Robinson’s winning goal for West Brom.
As for Bryan, he seems to be out of favour and has featured nine times in the league with just two appearances since the turn of the year. Despite being the play-off hero against Brentford in 2020, Silva might be keen to replace him next season.
Centre-back
Current centre backs at the club include Tim Ream, Michael Hector and Alfie Mawson, all of whom are out of contract in the summer
Ream has been an outstanding servant to the club, playing over 200 times, but at the age of 34 he is coming to the end of his career. Hector has been unlucky with his time at Fulham. He was outstanding in his first six months at the club but he has since then failed to live up to that potential and has become a fringe player.
As for Mawson, his time at Fulham has been forgetful. The 28-year-old is constantly injured and would not be risked in the Premier League. Silva would most likely want a couple of centre backs to help give Tosin Adarabioyo some healthy competition.
Attacking midfielder
This is one of Fulham’s strongest positions this season, with the likes of Fabio Carvalho, Harry Wilson and Bobby Decordova-Reid able to play there.
Carvalho has been the main man in this role and has had an outstanding season with 13 goal contributions at just 19 years of age, but with his contract expiring in the summer a move to a top flight team is looking even more likely. Wilson can play in the middle but his ability to cut in from the right has been a useful asset and Decordova-Reid has featured there a handful of times.
An attacking midfielder should be a priority for Silva next season.
