Tom Cairney’s new contract could be Fulham’s most important piece of business

Follow us on Google Discover

Fulham have tied down Tom Cairney on a new five-year deal.

Fulham may have made their most important signing of the summer already by tying down influential midfielder Tom Cairney to a new five-year contract.

The Scotland international has been linked with a move away from Craven Cottage this summer, with reports in The Sun suggesting that West Ham United were extremely keen on the player.

Fulham are in the midst of an important summer following their promotion from the Championship last season.

In their bid for Premier League survival this coming season, the Cottagers will need to make several signings having heavily relied on loan players such as Aleksandar Mitrovic, Lucas Piazon and Matt Targett.

But of all the signings Fulham could potentially make this summer, extending Cairney’s contract at the club and wading off interest from Premier League rivals could be their most important one of all.

The former Blackburn Rovers man is a key component of Slavisa Jokanovic’s side and has been such an influential figure over the past two campaigns, scoring 19 league goals and grabbing a further 15 assists.

He is fundamental to the way Fulham play, therefore losing him would have left a massive void to fill while replacing him like-for-like would have been extremely difficult with an assumed tight transfer budget.

Tying Cairney down for the next five years not only protects Fulham from seeing his head turned this summer, it also allows them to command a bigger fee in 12 months’ time should they fail to retain their top-light status.

The 27-year-old is coming into his peak years and he is the right sort of player to help lead Fulham to establish themselves in the Premier League, given his obvious deep connection with the west London club.

Jokanovic still needs to bring in a few fresh faces if Fulham have realistic aims of surviving, but arguably no new player will be as important as Cairney or quite have the impact the Scot is capable of delivering.