Scott Parker may have felt like he was having an out-of-body experience during Fulham’s 2-1 win at Leicester City on Monday night.
Because, in little Harrison Reed, the visitors have a midfield destroyer reminiscent of the Fulham boss in his own playing days.
And it’s no coincidence the Cottagers have improved dramatically – from relegation dead-certs to surprise package – as soon as Reed forced his way back into Parker’s starting XI.
After four games out of the team, the summer signing played a major role off the bench as Fulham finally won a Premier League game at the seventh time of asking against West Brom a month ago.
Reed hasn’t missed a single second of action since.
And after a monstrous midfield performance at the King Power, one that would have made ex-Leicester hero N’Golo Kante proud, that £8 million investment suddenly looks like one of the most inspired signings of the whole summer (Daily Mail).
Reed not only completed a game-high five interceptions, he also won four tackles and succeeded with 80 per cent of his attempted passes.
It was a performance full of endeavour, character, effort and quality from a Fulham team that, after defeating Leicester on their own soil with a classic counter-attacking display, moved out of the relegation zone and six points clear of bottom-place Sheffield United.
And that brings us on to Southampton.
The Saints paid £11 million to replace departed captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg in October, signing Ibrahima Diallo from Brest. But while the Frenchman has yet to hit the ground running in the top flight, the same can’t be said of a man sold to make way for Diallo’s arrival.
There was certainly a hint of Hojbjerg in the way Reed ran the show at Leicester last night.
Here’s what some Fulham fans had to say on Twitter about Reed’s performance.
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