Are Fulham hedging their bets? Or are they merely accepting defeat?
It certainly doesn’t feel like a coincidence that, since Nottingham Forest slammed their foot down onto the accelerator and moved into pole position for Liverpool defender Neco Williams, Fulham appear to have set their sights on a number of alternative transfer targets.
The question is whether the Cottagers are merely re-fuelling, biding their time before going again, or whether they are just a fading speck in Forest’s rear-view mirror.
According to Alan Nixon, Nottingham Forest have submitted an £11 million bid for Williams, plus a further £4 million in bonuses. Liverpool – a club who can boast a remarkable track record when it comes to selling unwanted players for mind-boggling sums, Taiwo Awoniyi to name but one – are holding out for £15 million up front.
Williams’ desire to seal a permanent switch to the City Ground, however, should go a long way to reducing the gap between the two parties.
Nottingham Forest close in on Liverpool’s Neco Williams
Of course, it’s common practice for clubs to place their eggs in a number of different baskets. Williams, despite an excellent loan spell at Craven Cottage in the second half of their Championship title-winning campaign, was never likely to be Fulham’s one and only right-back target this summer.
But reports suggesting that Fulham submitted an £8 million bid for Wolfsburg’s Kevin Mbabu (Sky Sports) – less than 24 hours before Nottingham Forest dropped £11 million onto Jurgen Klopp’s coffee table – certainly paints the picture of a side giving up the ghost.
The Sun even go as far as to claim that Wales international Williams – who will be handed the unenviable task of succeeding the outstanding Djed Spence at the City Ground – would prefer to join Forest than return to Fulham. The Cottagers will know when they’re beaten.
Williams’ stance may come as a surprise given how well he adapted to life at the Cottage last term. But perhaps his pro-Forest stance has something to do with the fact that, in Steve Cooper, the two-time European Champions have a head coach who’s track record when it comes to helping young players realise their potential could one day rival that of Jurgen Klopp himself.
Which up-and-coming 21-year-old with a hankering for first-team football wouldn’t want to play under Cooper? Certainly not Neco Williams anyway.
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