Written by James Cranford – @jamescranford89
Fulham confirmed their promotion to the Premier League yesterday with a 3-0 victory over Preston North End. Liverpool’s Neco Williams has been on loan at Craven Cottage since January and has played a key role in the West Londoners’ tilt at the Championship title. The Welshman is rumoured to want to make his stay there permanent as he has found first team football hard to come by in a red shirt.
Should the move become a reality, the possible replacement for Williams could be Aberdeen’s 18-year-old right-back Calvin Ramsey.
On the latest episode of our Journo Insight Show, we asked Neil whether Neco was heading for a permanent move away from Anfield this summer.
Neil said:
“He’s linked with German clubs as well, Calvin Ramsey. It stands to reason that you would want a backup for Trent. This loan spell or Neco Williams could not have gone any better, I would suggest, for Liverpool and for him, and Fulham. It’s amplified his profile; it’s allowed him to play games and really express himself and show what type of player he is. It’s a lot more difficult for a player like Neco Williams to play in the odd game for Liverpool. I think there will be a chance for Neco to leave in the summer, that’s why they loaned him. I think he’s got the potential to be a good backup for Liverpool, but I don’t know if he’s got the desire to be a backup now.
He’s a very, very good player, Neco Williams. He’ll be a Premier League player. Not a shadow of a doubt that he will have a good Premier League career or top flight career somewhere. I think there will be a chance for him to leave and if he does, there is obviously a vacancy for a right-back. You want a right-back who is going to be able to do similar things to Trent in terms of energy, delivery.”
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It is good to see Neco blossoming at a club in form, and he will rightly be proud of helping Fulham get back into the Premier League. He is 21 now and may feel the need to leave Anfield to guarantee first team football. A permanent move between the two clubs should be easy enough to arrange, given the recent transfers of Harry Wilson and Fabio Carvalho. The unfortunate thing for Williams is he has a right-back with a unique skill set ahead of him in the LFC pecking order. Not only that, Trent Alexander-Arnold is still only 23, so could be first choice right-back for the Reds for another decade at least. If the Welshman does decide to leave, this loan spell will have boosted his sale price and he will already know his teammates and the facilities at Fulham.
Calvin Ramsey has played a good number of games for Aberdeen this year, including in the Europa Conference League. If he does join the Reds, he will be following a proud tradition of Scottish talent representing the club, and will have his nation’s captain as an inspiration for what he could do on to achieve.
