Rodrigo Muniz is pure Premier League box office

Now talk of Morten Gamst Pedersen and Jay Jay Okocha as prime “Barclaysmen” has been put firmly back in its box, I’m left wondering which players we’ll be talking about in the same breath in 20 years’ time.

Not the Mo Salahs, the Kevin de Bruynes, or the Bukayo Sakas, but those salt-of-the-earth players who define the league, like Jarrod Bowen, Dwight McNeil – and Rodrigo Muniz.

Parallels

I remember on a cold night at Loftus Road when the club got John Collins to introduce our new signing, Collins John, to the crowd. Classic banter – classic Fulham.

Collins John, of course, was a Dutch prodigy who arrived as an 18-year-old and went on to have a decent, if unremarkable Fulham career, the highlight being the 2005/06 season where he finished our top scorer in the Premier League with 11 goals. But he sticks in the memory. His late leveller against Manchester City to help send us on our way to our first away win of the season with just two games left to play; his incredible volley at the Riverside against Middlesbrough that was in contention for goal of the season.

Collins John was a Barclaysman – and I see a lot of parallels with Rodrigo.

Muniz’s journey

From his arrival as an impressionable 20-year-old to finishing as our top scorer in 2023/24, Muniz is currently on the Collins John highway. Sure, that might seem like an inauspicious trajectory on the face of it, but Muniz’s ceiling is far, far higher than the Liberian.

I’m not going to attempt to create a name for a modern-day Barclaysman but suffice to say Muniz is Premier League box office. It’s not about the number of goals you chalk up, it’s the moments you create – and Rodrigo’s already created so many.

His bicycle kick against Sheffield United to salvage a point at Bramall Lane. His brace to see off Spurs at the Cottage. Then think about this season; he’s not even firing on all cylinders, yet he’s bagged at the Etihad and finished with aplomb at Anfield to put us ahead late on against the league winners. And judging by the image of him by the Anfield corner flag, the boy always knows where the cameras are.

Cult status assured

Roddy doesn’t need to bag 20 goals a season for the next five years – he’s already got cult hero status at Fulham. But that’s not to say he can’t graduate to legend status. He’s currently interchangeable with Raul Jinenez in the nine, which is working well for us, and for both men. Raul’s benefitting more, but Muniz has a full decade on his 33-year-old teammate – time’s on his side.

The fact is, he could net half-a-dozen goals a season for the next couple of years, before spells at Everton and West Ham and he’d still be considered a modern Barclaysman. But my money’s on him doing far better than that. He’s box office. And he’s ours.