Fulham

Drew Heatley
Fan writer

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This summer, we want to break the cycle of offloading our most valuable asset. Since we returned to the Premier League, it has happened each year.

First, there was Alexander Mitrovic, then last year we lost Joao Palhinha. This year, the vultures are circling Antonee Robinson.

If we retain the services of the man affectionately known as Jedi, then not only do we skip a window or two's worth of rebuilding, we send out a statement of intent.

But Robinson's departure isn't the only dark cloud looming. After committing his future to Fulham, Marco Silva finds himself the object of many a top club's affection - most notably Juventus and Tottenham Hotspur.

Few, if any, Fulham fans would begrudge him the move, even after his recent comments that he would be here next season. He has rehabilitated his reputation at Craven Cottage. No longer is he a man whose head is turned at the first sign of interest.

Silva's future aside, I would like to see us bring in some attacking reinforcements. Rodrigo Muniz and Raul Jimenez performed admirably, with 20 goals between them, but a few more goals in crucial moments would have resulted in European football.

A true number eight must also be on the agenda.

Our midfield pairing of Sander Berge and Sasa Lukic have performed admirably in filling our Palhinha-shaped hole in the middle, but we need an injection of dynamism; someone who will drive the ball up the pitch and bring others into play.

To that end, a winger or two would not go amiss, either. We have real quality in Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi, but Willian looks set to leave - again - and Reiss Nelson headed back to Arsenal injured months ago.

A tricky two months ahead, then. But there are real rewards to be had if we navigate those obstacles and break that cycle.

Find more from Drew Heatley at Fulhamish, external

BBC Sport pundit Nedum Onuoha has given us his insight and opinion every fortnight on your Premier League club throughout this season.

But this week, he's in the hotseat for your questions.

Maybe ask him who should be on your club's radar this summer, or where a rumoured target or new signing might fit into the team.

Perhaps see what he thinks about how successful a new recruit might be, who it is vital to keep, or what is needed to make next season a success.

Send in your questions here and we'll put a selection to him

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

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BBC Sport chief football news reporter Simon Stone has been answering your questions on the summer transfer window.

Phil asked: Will Marco Silva still be manager of Fulham come next season?

Simon answered: In fairness, there has been noise around Silva and he is experienced in terms of the Premier League and the challenges it presents so will have a more realistic view of what can be achieved at Fulham. They have just had their third mid-table finish but I got the strong feeling around March-time that Silva felt Europe, either through the league or FA Cup, was a possibility. He will want improvement. If he doesn't think he will get it, Silva is bound to start looking at his options.

Follow the Q&A and the rest of the day's football news here

As the dust settles on the 2024-25 Premier League season, we have been taking a look at some of the alternative ways the the table could have finished...

Many of us will have been there in school.

It was not always about being the best, but about being better. Not trying to beat the others' scores or times, but about beating your own.

In sport too, it is why personal bests exist. It is a way of measuring your own improvement against what has gone before - we can't all be Usain Bolt and Florence Griffith-Joyner.

So if the Premier League season was all about how you compared to the campaign before, who would have come out on top?

Well, there is one clear winner.

With 29 points more than they had in 2023-24, Nottingham Forest would have been lifting that trophy.

They may not have finished the season quite as they hoped having spent so much time in the Champions League spots, but having narrowly avoided relegation a year ago, this shows the sheer scale of the improvement this term.

Their nearest challenger on this basis would have been Brentford.

With 56 points, they were three points short of their best ever Premier League tally, but having flirted with relegation last time out, it made for a more enjoyable season this time around.

Brighton, Bournemouth and Fulham may have just missed out on European adventures in the real league, but they are also teams who can be happy with the improvements they are showing as now well-established top-flight sides.

And despite the chaotic nature of Chelsea since the new ownership came in, they too can look to steady progress.

At the other end of the scale (or table), it is a very different picture.

Many question whether the traditional 'big six' teams is still relevant, given how others have broken that mould in recent years.

But if the season was based on improvement, four of those six would have been at the bottom.

Tottenham dropped-off in the league nearly as much as Forest improved. Manchester City had a high bar to reach, but a torrid spell proved costly. Manchester United have set multiple unwanted club records, while Arsenal struggled to maintain a real challenge for the title.

They say beware the wounded tiger, and it is hard to see all these sides having the same difficulties next season, but they will not have it all their own way with those teams that are on the up.

*All data from Opta and only teams who were in the league in 2023-24

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We asked for you to tell us what Fulham need to do in the summer transfer window.

Here are some of your comments:

Nick: Maybe we need some tweaking of the support team with departure of Stuart Gray. A striker is needed, of course, but lack of goals from midfield very noticeable this year. Could it be the coaching is missing something, maybe needs a different skill set to get the best out of our midfield.

Joseph: We desperately need a back-up goalkeeper. Benda is not up to Premier League standard, and we were very lucky that Leno didn't get injured this season.

Bob: We need two strikers who can give us 20-plus goals in a league season each. We need to keep most of the players from this season. There are a few who will have to go. We all know who they are. Marco needs the funds which he has been starved of to get these players. It was a very good season in the main, but a disappointing last few matches that cost us a European place. This first transfer window won't help us as we could lose some important players we do need to keep. We need to make sure we get contacts sorted out.

Adam: The transfer window is a time of uncertainty for Fulham fans and this season will be no different. We all know we need upgrades but we have all become so attached to our players who have done so well it will be tough. For example, if Palhinha does come back it would mean dropping Lukic or Berge. I think we need to get rid of Andreas Pereira as he has not been at a high enough level and a good replacement would be someone like Samuel Chukwueze - a quick and tricky creator and finisher.

Terry: Get a great striker up front. We have gone to many games where we have dropped points because of the lack of ideas up front. We have not replaced Mitrovic and it shows on the pitch. We have a great team but we have no bite up front. I believe we could have made Europe or won the FA cup with a great striker. I'm not a fan of Jiminez - he works hard but never has the killer instincts to be a great goalscorer. I prefer Muniz up front. Well, let's see what we have in store next season. They have played excellent football so far. Just lacking a striker.

Peter: Obviously, we need what every other club wants - a top-class, clinical striker. So perhaps I'll focus on what we don't need - a goalkeeper (we have Leno), a creative midfielder (we have Josh King and Alex Iwobi) or centre-backs (we have Bassey, Anderson, Diogo and Cuenca). All of those are more than good enough, so let's focus our efforts on replacing Vinicius with a better number nine.

Ian: Pre-season is vital for Fulham. With many teams' players coming and going, freshness is needed. A back-up goalkeeper is needed because if anything happens to Leno the club is in trouble. Both full-back areas need more depth, and there is weakness in the winger area.

Will: The player I want the most is Chukwueze. I would also take Reiss Nelson on a permanent deal.

Thank you for the feedback you submitted on the Premier League club pages.

Our aim is to contain all of the BBC's in-depth coverage of that team in one place, so it helpful to hear from you - you are who the pages are for after all.

We are going through all your responses and will take suggestions on board for next season.

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The transfer window opens on Sunday - albeit for 10 days initially, mainly so sides competing in the Club World Cup can get early business done - before reopening for the rest of the summer on 16 June.

Are there certain players you are desperate for Fulham to sign, or an area of the squad that needs improving? Or maybe holding on to a key player is your biggest priority. And what about sales - who needs to go?

So over to you... what names need bringing in and shipping out?

Let us know here

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Crystal Palace wing-back Daniel Munoz ranked second in distance covered (242 miles) last season and he also made the most sprints in the Premier League with 907.

Bryan Mbeumo and Milos Kerkez also rank highly, just behind Fulham's American speedster Antonee Robinson.

Newcastle's Anthony Gordon completes the top five.

While Gordon ranked fifth for sprints overall across the season, he sprinted more often than any other player, averaging 29 sprints per 90 minutes.

What's in a name? Well if the name's Anthony (or Antonee) then it is sprinting, with Gordon, Elanga and Robinson all in the top five.

Munoz is here again, coming in at fourth, behind Chelsea's Nicolas Jackson.

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The BBC's Ask Me Anything team have done all of the research ahead of the announcement detailing next season's Premier League matches.

The fixtures for the 2025-26 season will be released at 09:00 BST on Wednesday, 18 June 2025 and the release will include the weekly schedule of all 380 matches.

The season will begin with a single fixture played on Friday, 15 August 2025 and conclude on Sunday, 24 May 2026, when all matches will be played at 16:00 BST. There will be 33 weekend rounds of fixtures, plus five midweek rounds.

The exact date and time at which individual matches are played during each weekend will be determined at regular intervals throughout the season, based on TV selections made by broadcasters.

Read the full article here

We asked you to select your Fulham player of the season from the four candidates chosen by our fan contributor.

And with the poll now closed, we can reveal the winner is... Antonee Robinson!

Here's what Drew Heatley at Fulhamish, external said about him:

It is little wonder the player known as 'Jedi' is attracting the attention of clubs like Manchester United and Liverpool. He has come so far in four years, adding defensive steel to his blistering pace on the left. His 10 assists and counting this term shows his impact. Hopefully he resists the dark side this summer.

See the final poll breakdown

Image source, Getty Images

Chris Collinson
BBC Sport statistician

Bournemouth and Tottenham were the most physical teams in the Premier League this season when considering the distance they covered and the number of sprints performed.

The results might explain why they had a lot of injuries.

Newcastle and Brighton were not too far behind though, with Brighton actually covering the most ground in the league, with fewer sprints.

Chelsea and Liverpool's style of play saw them sprint a lot but not cover a lot of ground, while Manchester City and Arsenal were the opposite (ran a lot but didn't sprint a lot).

Nottingham Forest very much had their own style of play this season as they both ran and sprinted the least.

Drew Heatley
Fan writer

Image source, Getty Images

Season rating: 7/10. An almost impossible season to gauge. We secured our record number of points and equalled our record number of wins, yet finished in the bottom half and missed out on possibly our best chance to win the FA Cup.

Happy with your manager? Yes. Marco Silva is not infallible and has his flaws, but he is our best manager since Roy Hodgson and he has indicated he wants to remain at Craven Cottage.

If he does, he will expect to be backed - and rightly so. We're close to real success, but we need bodies in the squad.

Unsung hero: Raul Jimenez. He enjoyed his best season in five years, scoring 14 in all competitions. Yet news of the club extending his contract drew groans from some areas of the fanbase.

A goal return of 21 in 72 games is a fine one for a player who cost just £5.5m, and he still has a significant role to play in a squad that I have already mentioned needs to get deeper.

Player you would most like to sign: We still haven't replaced Aleksandar Mitrovic, so a striker has to be on the agenda. Everton are the latest club to be linked with Liam Delap of Ipswich, so why wouldn't we have that conversation with him too? We're an attractive proposition on and off the field for any young player looking to step up.

Right now, my overriding emotion from the season is: Jealousy. Watching Crystal Palace lift the FA Cup was, perhaps strangely, one of the worst moments I have had as a football fan.

I was convinced it was our year. All the ingredients were there. It was a season for surprise cup winners and the Premier League table was so congested that a really high finish was so realistic for most of the campaign. Instead, we've ended up with nothing to show for it. We go again in August.

Do you agree with Drew's answers? Pick one or two categories and send your answer

Find more from Drew Heatley at Fulhamish, external

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Here's my quick assessment of Fulham's Premier League season - and a return to my August predictions.

Ended the season: 11th

Pre-season prediction: 13th

A solid season for Fulham under Marco Silva, although the FA Cup quarter-final loss at home to Crystal Palace was a big disappointment and somewhat symptomatic of a season where form could fluctuate from one game to the next.

Even so, the campaign represents progress. The one concern could be a knock on the door from Spurs for Silva should they dispense with Ange Postecoglou.

What I said in August: "Much will depend on Silva himself but I think Fulham will have a relatively untroubled season."

Read my assessments of the other 19 teams here

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We asked for your views on Fulham's performance against Manchester City and the season as a whole.

Here are some of your comments:

Bryn: Proud of the way they have played all season. This is tempered by total frustration at the absence of even an average striker. I know that Marco Silva wants improvement but this can't happen without the addition of such a player - even a youngster with genuine potential.

Johnathan: We've never been the same since the FA Cup home loss to Crystal Palace. Pity.

James: Disappointing end to the season. We have played well throughout the season and even broken our points record of 53. We tried our best but Manchester City were overall the much better team. Let's try and get a good start next season.

Ash: We had some great chances, but poor finishing. We've been hit and miss in the past three or four months after the international break. Marco is staying, hopefully Cairney will too.

Antoine: You cannot be a fan of Fulham unless you're content with losing every other week. Many supporters love to attend the Cottage because you are really close and see all of the players, but they desperately need a great centre-forward to replace the incredible Mitrovic. Not worth paying up to £3,000 for a season ticket.

Chris Wise
BBC Final Score reporter at Craven Cottage

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It feels slightly cruel that Fulham did not finish in the top half of the Premier League table.

They flirted with the idea of European football for months, and 11th just does not feel like a justifiable ending given some of their performances.

What is interesting about Marco Silva's side is that they do not fall into the 'flat track bully' category. They have been as good - if not better - at getting points off top-half sides compared with games against those struggling. That should offer a lot of encouragement.

Clearly, consistency has been their nemesis in recent months. But Fulham are close to breaking through the next ceiling under Silva. He has shown that this season by leading the club to their record Premier League points tally.

But how does he turn them into a team that can become a more regular fixture among those jostling for Europe? As ever, it will probably come down to investment.

Silva's standing and respect as manager is strong enough now for him to openly call out what he feels he needs to get there. He said after the defeat by Manchester City on Sunday that he "wants to keep improving, but we have to have the same tools as the other clubs".

That is his less-than-subtle way of asking to be backed in the transfer market.

There is always a balance to be found with these situations, but I think most Fulham fans are realistic enough to recognise that if the club are to kick on again under Silva, he is going to need to spend this summer.

Highlights and analysis from Sunday's 10 final day Premier League fixtures.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up now on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to full match commentaries on BBC Sounds:

• Nottingham Forest 0-1 Chelsea

• Liverpool 1-1 Crystal Palace

• Wolves 1-1 Brentford

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Fulham manager Marco Silva has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day about the defeat by Manchester City: "It's definitely not the result to finish on a high at home. We had some moments, in terms of chances, that we did create. There were probably enough of those to get a different result, but City were more clinical.

"They were leading and the penalty killed our hopes really - we need to be more careful in that moment. We had two players ready to go in and have an impact [as substitutes] so unfortunately for us, it was a crucial moment."

On achieving a club record 54 points in the Premier League this season: "We have achieved something that nobody has achieved before. Up until the last stages, we were in decisive moments to fight for some of the European spots and arriving where we we did in the FA Cup [quarter-finals] shows it is a good season for the club.

"We improved from last season and that is the main thing."

On the futures of Tom Cairney and Kenny Tete: "Let's hope in the next few days you have some news."

On his own future: "That isn't really important. I have a contract [until 2026] and I have more important things to do in order to prepare the club to move forward.

"I'm talking about development and improvements, the club knows what that means. We cannot stand still at the level that we are at. If we want to keep improving, we have to have the same tools as the other clubs."

Image source, Getty Images

Manchester City have now won their past 15 league meetings against Fulham, the longest winning run one side has recorded over another in the history of England's top four tiers (overtaking Manchester City against Bournemouth - 14).

This was only the third game in Premier League history to see no English player in either starting XI, after Portsmouth v Arsenal in December 2009 and Arsenal v Chelsea in January 2019.

So the curtain has come down on Fulham's season with a defeat against Manchester City at Craven Cottage.

Marco Silva's side will have wanted a much better end to their season, having recorded 10 Premier League defeats since the turn of the year, but they were unable to find the all-important breakthrough.

How are you feeling after that performance and at the end of a long campaign?

Have your say on Fulham's performance and season here

Come back to this page on Monday to find a selection of your replies